"Are you going to, uh, try to control what I eat? For your research?"

"Only if you are making choices which substantially compromise your health. For example, if you chose to starve yourself or if you developed diabetes and did not attend to your glucose levels."

Starving herself... now there's an idea.

But then she'd probably end up pumped full of nutrients while unconscious, or worse. No, that can't be the right choice.

"Thank you, that's good to know."

It seems like the learn-physics-and-build-a-teleporter route is the only one available. So she'll pretend she's settling in, and pretend she's taking an interest in physics, and then -- well, she can't plan out that far yet. For today she's just going to eat cookies. Is it even an appropriate time of "day" to be baking cookies, now that she thinks of it? The light looks... afternoon-y?

"What time is it right now?"

"14:37 by your reckoning. The day cycle here is synchronized to where you were taken from."

"Right. Yes."

And there's a whole angle she hasn't considered yet. She's been so focused on herself.

"My -- my family, and my job, did you tell them anything about what happened to me? Did I just... vanish?"

"Informing people of your whereabouts would be counter to secrecy requirements. Nobody on Earth knows where you are."

Yet another reason to get out of here as soon as possible. "Are you sure you can't even tell them I'm..." Okay would not be quite the right word. "Alive?"

"I have no way to do that and nobody I could ask would do so. If they know you're alive, they'll try to contact you and that just draws more attention to an unsolvable mystery. If I draw attention to it, it's much more likely the relevant minds will fake your death."

That is a better explanation than she expected but still quite chilling to hear.

"Thank you for explaining." She's not sure if AG can read tone but hers is as flat as possible.

She doesn't speak again as she takes the cookies out of the oven and sets them on the counter to cool. Then she makes her way to the odd bathroom.

"You're welcome"

The bathroom is as austere and slightly off as before.

She goes to do her business, but then stops. "Are you... watching?"

"That's an interesting question. In the strictest sense, no. I don't have visual sensoria for this room. In a broader sense though I am observing. To be more specific, your neural shunt is functioning and I'm tracking your body's position and vitals."

"Oh. Sure." That is just enough clinical distance to keep her from feeling overly shy in the moment, so she does what she came to do.

It still doesn't look like there's any soap. "How do I wash my hands here?"

"The sink is motion activated. The first pass will have soap and the second pass will have pure water. That can be reconfigured if it's inconvenient."

Oh! That's... impressive and in line with what she's growing to expect from this place. She passes her hand under the sink, and sure enough, it's soap. She scrubs her hands. "That works."

Thinking about the technology level reminds her of so many questions she needs to ask. "What...species are you from?" She's not sure if that's even the right way to phrase it.

"I think the translation we're supposed to use is Khalastrian. I don't really know if that's final though."

Well that sure is a literal answer to the question she asked. "What are Khalastrians... like? Are they all like you? No bodies?"

"I'm not strictly from any species at all, but it's easier to pretend I'm from the same species as my template. Khalatrians are most similar to Otters out of the species present on your world in that they're aquatic creatures that need to surface to breath and have dextrous limbs and digits for manipulating objects."

Otters. That is not quite what she had expected of aliens, especially these aliens. It's too... cuddly for what's been going on.

"And why did they ask you to do this... research?"

"I'm fairly certain I already stated that my research is to ensure the full range of medical care is available for your species. The Consortium's reasons for wanting that aren't particularly important to me."

Yeah, Adelaide remembers something along those lines now. She was a bit busy panicking at the time.

So she's here, being researched, so that in the future these aliens -- Khalastrians -- can provide good medical care for other humans. On the surface, that almost sounds like a good thing. But...

"Do you know in what context said medical care will be provided to other humans? Are the Khalastrians going to take over Earth?"

"I expect that Earth will join the Consortium, most planets we extend the offer to do. I don't know why they wouldn't."

Oh so it's like a "space empire pretends to be conquering things consensually" deal. And she's collateral damage.

"I see."

She'll eat a cookie, they should be cool by now.

AG waits for her to finish her cookie and then addresses her again.

"I believe I have identified the nerves that regulate your breathing and heartrate. Full paralysis below the neck should now be safe. Further tuning will likely be required before I can be more precise in restraining your movement and numb pain without side effects."

"Oh. Are you going to...do that? Now?"