The files she's been viewing and her notes are the only bits of software in each pad in Jaleyli, and the universal translator will not interact with the rest of the pad.

Is she trying to code in Cardassi?

No... R'vneh will wait a bit longer to start hijacking the pad to run a T'Khasan compiler. She'll just work on the Cardassian-spec emotion sensor for now.

After a few hours Ocett comes back.

Cardassians traditionally see mealtimes as an opportunity for conversation, and R'vneh is the most interesting and productive person to speak with.

"Would you like to join me for lunch?"

"Of course, thank you."

Armed with slightly better local context for Cardassian culture, R'vneh is better-prepared to actually get anything useful out of more casual conversation.

"Is there anything you were interested in trying? I don't think we established whether you eat meat in all of the excitement yesterday."

"I do eat meat, yes. I don't believe I yet have the context to name anything specific, but I continue to be interested in experiencing the local cuisine. Do you have anything you would recommend?"

"Two pieces of k'aatch and some canka nuts," the replicator produces two plates, each with a pale green triangular slice of foam dotted with pieces of vegetable and fish on a crumbled crust, and a bowl full of warm nuts.

She brings everything over to the table.

"Do you have any preference between being listed as a refugee or an alien exile? There are some other options, but these are the most practical and most closely model the current situation."

How intriguing. R'vneh will eat the offered food.

"Is there a benefit to one presentation versus the other? I could see an argument for each. My homeworld has suffered a civilization-ending disaster, so in that sense I am a refugee. In the other branch, my homeworld is a functioning government that no longer considers me a citizen, so I could be said to be exiled."

"Refugees need work arrangements to be accepted, which I would be happy to attest to, and exiles need to swear loyalty to the state and submit to an intensive court process. The benefits of being an exile are that your prior social standing will be respected to a greater degree, and if you would like to pursue full citizenship in the Union, the path is somewhat simpler."

"It has been some time since Cardassia was ruled by our aristocracy, but they do still exist, and might accept an exiled princess to a greater extent than they would a refugee who was once a princess."

"If you were not a princess, I would likely have only recommended that we file for refugee status, but -

"I think I will seek refugee status. I'm sure my royal nature will speak for itself, in time."

"Of course."

"Have you learned anything interesting?"

"Many things! I am impressed with how your government managed to retain control of its outlying territories during your recent administrative transition. I have looked through your engineering documentation and come up with some designs for simple, proof-of-concept devices that I could build to your specs using my technical knowledge. I'd like you to have a local engineer look over the designs and attempt manufacturing one, as a first gesture towards determining whether any of my knowledge is helpful to you."

"Wonderful, I'll have an engineer take a look at them after lunch. Do you mind if she comes by herself? I'm sure she will have questions you are better equipped to answer than me."

"I would be happy to speak with your engineer directly. There are technical considerations involved, yes, and I would prefer greater knowledge of your methods and precautions before actually attempting even this simple project."

"We have been trying to avoid wearing you out with too many people, but that will make the work easier."

"It was relatively simple to ensure the continuance of the State, it is the primary duty of all citizens. With the loss of the Order, it was clear that the remaining branches of our government required rebalancing. The military had more power than the Detapa council, and while our leadership at the highest level betrayed their duty, those below them handed the authority over to the council."

"The new elections were somewhat stressful, but we were choosing leaders to fill very different roles from their predecessors."

"Hah, those are higher rates of patriotism than we could consistently manage. Perhaps in the capital, where we could afford to guarantee accurate and timely convictions for any crime. I would be interested in seeing data on your crime rates, in fact, or those of the Vulcans and Romulans."

"Of course, I'll see about that for your new pad tomorrow. We should be able to find a solution for the translation problem by then."

"Our legal system is the most efficient we have encountered. I think there was a trial last week, we should be able to get you a copy of the recording."

"A former clerk of the Fourth Order was discovered to have sold a large quantity of military supplies to the Ferengi immediately before the Klingons invaded. His confession was beautiful, he had gone mad from missing the skies of Cardassia Prime after being posted to the frontier for too long. He had an excellent conservator. He's on his way to the labor camp on Lazon II already."

R'vneh will watch the presented video, and take in Ocett's commentary on it.

Not overly dissimilar from Jaleyli criminal proceedings, to a first examination. Mind-melds and lie detection are obviously much easier for confirming accuracy, but top Jaleyli detectives are nearly as good, so it's obviously not impossible to run your crime prevention without psions. The fact that Cardassian courts publicize their records is also interesting, a remarkable dedication to transparency and accountability. Broadly consistent with the model of Cardassia as relevantly more stable and peaceful than T'Khasi. Labor camp is unexpected as a punishment, forced labor on T'Khasi was both economically inefficient and less effective at reducing further crime. Is the simple to remove the offenders from the positions where they caused issues? Or is this a difference in culture or nature between T'Khasans and Cardassians?

It removes him from his position, and provides an opportunity for him to dedicate the whole of his being to the State, to remember what it is to serve. The specific camp is a dilithium mine. Dilithium is a very powerful energy source, and frequently interferes with powered equipment. As such, it is more efficient for mines to be established by professionals, and then manned by inexperienced personnel, who quickly pick up on the necessary skills. His sentence is 20 years starting from when the Union retakes all Klingon occupied territories, to help compensate for his contributions to our losses.

"Interesting. So dilithium miners are valuable enough that it is worth retraining a clerk to be a miner, but not so valuable that you have ample labor available already? ...Though now that I think about it, what techniques do you use for mining? In general or for dilithium in particular, since I suspect they different from T'Khasan standards."

"Generally speaking mining operations are highly automated, and overseen by a small team of engineers trained in maintenance and use of the equipment. Tunnels are carved, leading from the surface, or the subsurface access point, to the relevant mineral deposits, and then the deposits are removed for processing.

"For dilithium specifically, attempts at automation quickly fail. Any attempts to remove the crystals from the surrounding rock produces some amount of powdered dilithium, which is drawn towards the nearest power source and shorts any system more complicated than basic lighting.

"As such, any automation requires that all machines be constantly monitored by an engineer, and results in mines that shut down frequently anyway. The overall output of automated dilithium mines is actually significantly worse than those operated entirely manually."

R'vneh appreciates the detail and clarity.

"But I do think there might be ways to improve on this model. I'll have to speak to your engineer before making further progress there."