It was the better part of several hours before Rix reactivated the link. Strangely enough for Munto, they had considered sending over their walking frame several times in that time period.

Not that they had any feelings about the alleged Terran, but it would have been instructive to seen the Terran work and to see what else was in the mentioned cargo hold.

Additionally, it would have been an opportunity for Munto to covertly observe and scan enough of the biometrics to try and determine if this Rix is in fact a Terran, regardless of what they’d said earlier.

But the past was in the past and Munto had spent the time doing a more detailed scan of what could be scanned of the TSS Esperanto.

The TSS Esperanto, according to what Rix had said, was some sort of a colony cargo vessel. Looking at it as such still made very little sense in Munto’s sensors, but then again, they were not an organic and were also not a ship designer.

It wasn’t that it was foreign to Munto, but rather that they did not possess the ‘knack’ for it that some TACITs did. Something in the quantum pairs or so they joked. Munto could do self-maintenance to a point, but beyond that and they would call for aid or visit an appropriate station.

It wasn’t uncommon for TACITs to need fixing, given the dangers of space, but with the latest of technologies at their access points, they were substantially less likely to have issues than they had been a mere hundred years ago.

However, the TSS Esperanto remained like nothing Munto had ever come across, except in some databases that Munto hadn’t ever crosslinked to before.

Given the technology of the time, it appeared that there were substantial concerns regarding experimental FTL transitions producing substantial quantities of radiation in multiple bands, including in bands that the organics of the time didn’t know existed. This led to a kind of vessel ‘bulking’ for any vessel which would be doing long or multiple FTL transitions (compared with those which were intended for one-way, single/short transitions).

This by itself explained a lot about this vessel. The ridiculous shielding for a start. Munto definitely was curious about the shielding material science. There was next to nothing in the databases that would explain being able to shield between quantum pairing, which shouldn’t be possible, but apparently was. What was described in the databases seemed akin to organic science fiction of yesteryear.

The rest of the ship outside of the shielding was fairly normal, excepting the overconstruction of almost everything. The ion engines still appeared to be fully functional, but would produce a fraction of Munto’s own, despite being 258% bigger.

What appeared to be a power unit of some kind, possibly fusion, was cold, but still appeared functional should it be properly warmed and restarted. Munto had hoped upon seeing this that the Terran would know how to conduct this particular procedure. It wasn’t that Munto couldn’t, but it was akin to starting one of their own hearts. It just… felt wrong to do.

The sensor relay from which the laser communication and the radio had come from was matched with four other equivalent arrays around the vessel. Primitive by Munto’s standards, but understandable for the time in which it was built and given that it was built by organics for organics in the somewhat earlier years of FTL.

The outermost layer of the vessel, beneath some of the equipment was little more than metal with some meager shielding layers to dull the worst of any collisions or radiation. It wasn’t a bad outermost layer, but it did not seem worth the weight it added to the vessel in Munto’s opinion.

There were also an array of solar panels which appeared to be collapsible, but in ragged condition. According to what Munto could read, they still fed a trickle of energy into the Esperanto. This trickle of energy was almost certainly what allowed Rix and whatever else was aboard to remain in stasis for so long.

And now that Munto knew the name for what Rix said he had been using for FTL travel, Munto looked at three arrays of equipment that seemed almost annoying to look at. Each array was comprised of multiple shielded boxes that were somehow interconnected in a massive tangle of wires and each array was connected to each other array, but again in ways that Munto could track but really didn’t want to bother with.

Whatever the system was, almost certainly this ‘jumpdrive’ as Rix had described it, it was clearly made by organics and put together quite slapdash if Munto was honest.

That said, it was something of a puzzle. It didn’t look like a traditional FTL drive should and didn’t match anything in the databases, even the more imaginative organic science fiction didn’t have any adequate descriptions of an FTL system looking like this. And the shielded boxes… well, those could be filled with organic excrement for all Munto could tell.

It was deep in the middle of examining this system that Rix called back. The alleged Terran looked… wet and was breathing a bit hard.

“Looks like I’m fresh out of luck on that firmware, but maybe I can bring you one of the chips that is currently working and a template and we can see about cloning the firmware that way,” Rix suggested.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“I would place high doubts in that working. Firmware is traditionally highly specialized,” Munto flashed a rune on the screen for skepticism.

“I… uh… huh?” Rix appeared to be trying to process this in that slow way that organics often did.

It took only the amount of time for Rix to start formulating their particular thought patterns for Munto to recall that this being most likely didn’t realize what the rune meant and decided on a different course, as the TACIT network prompted them again for an update.

Munto fired off a ‘leave me alone to deal with this organic’ response to the network and mentally turned back to the alleged Terran.

“Please proceed to the docking port where I am at. I possess a means of producing a safe atmosphere for the recorded Terrans of Helix. I will also be using this as an opportunity to examine you for health and potential quarantine if needed,” Munto decided that being upfront would likely be the best option since Rix seemed to process that best.

Rix took a moment to think through this before grinning again.

“Sounds good. After all, I haven’t had a physical in over 900 years. I’m overdue. I’ll be over in a few minutes,” Rix said, killing the vid link in that same annoyingly non-courteous way of doing so.

Munto couldn’t explain why it was non-courteous. It simply was. But that was organics for you - always being messy and doing all manner of non-courteous and entirely discourteous actions, whether they realized it or not.

At least Rix didn’t seem to be reacting poorly to being confronted by a TACIT, that much Munto could be grateful for.

Many organics and inorganics reacted poorly when first confronted by a TACIT, whether intentionally or not. First contact with a TACIT was typically where most TACITs were likely to be hurt, so a specialized segment of TACITs were specially equipped for those ‘adventures’, typically with overbuilt systems, heavy protection, and ready means of escape outside of the standard means.

Munto decided to ask Rix about their reactions. It should be a useful part of the baseline to be established on this alleged Terran.

After a period of time somewhat longer than it had taken Munto’s walking frame to reach themself for exit, an odd series of vibrations occurred. Munto used the walking frame as an observer node and trundled down to the door, opening it.

Rix stood there in some very antiquated style equipment that looked to be almost on the verge of breaking and carrying two large cases.

Rix floated inside, shifting the cases with them.

Closing the door behind them, Munto filled the atmosphere with the same mix as they had on file for Helix standard before checking on Rix. Rix was floating there, looking at the walking frame expectantly.

“Was there something you were waiting on?” Munto asked.

“I wasn’t sure if I should be doing anything special. This is your ship after all,” Rix’s shrug was apparent even though the heavy equipment.

Munto thought several moments.

“I recommend orienting yourself to the same floor as my walking frame so that I may engage artificial gravity,” Munto decided, for a start.

“Oh cool! They got that working too, huh?” Rix did as Munto asked, clearly excited by this prospect.

Munto decided to ignore this query as rhetorical for the time being and reached out with the walking frame to lower the two floating cases to close to the floor as Rix reoriented.

“Oh yeah, thanks. I’d forgotten about those,” Rix commented.

Munto couldn’t fathom how this organic managed to function if they were so easily overcome by their thought patterns, but noted that this was still within the baseline for Terrans according to the criteria, even if it wasn’t the norm.

Slowly, Munto activated the artificial gravity and elevated it to galactic standard, all the while observing the alleged Terran for discomfort.

“Artificial gravity has been set for galactic standard. Are you able to still move yourself and the cases?” Munto prompted.

“Really? This feels light. Almost like I was back on Mars,” Rix appeared to jump slightly, their gear jingling as they did so.

Munto checked the readings for the equipment as well as the calibration. It was a bit out of date, but Munto rarely had a need to use it, so it wasn’t too unusual if it were a bit out of standard.

Besides, the alleged Terran appeared to take no issue with it.

“Please proceed to the next room with the cases and remove your outerwear so that I am able to begin taking physical readings as we transport the equipment to the necessary fabrication bay,” Munto said.

“Geeze. Buy a lad a drink first,” Rix mumbled.

Munto looked up the meaning behind this, felt a kind of feigned shock at the pseudo-vulgarity of it in themselves, but decided that the alleged Terran was most likely not meaning anything in particular over this, most especially not requesting an actual beverage. However, providing a beverage would help Munto’s criteria evaluation, but providing it at this juncture would likely send the wrong message.

Internally, Munto gritted their circuits. This… this is exactly why they don’t like dealing with organics. It made them feel like they had to process that much harder about decision trees that should be so much simpler.

Much to Munto’s surprise though, Rix appeared to easily pick up both cases and slid himself and the two cases into the next room, allowing the airlock to close behind them.

“If you don’t mind me saying so, it’s a little tight in here,” Rix said, setting down the cases and beginning to undo their equipment.

Munto checked the statistics of the space against galactic standards.

“It is 10% smaller than normal spaces, yes. That is intentional as I do not expect to have anyone aboard for any particular duration. It is also noteworthy that you appear to be 40% larger than galactic standard,” Munto replied.

“Really? I never figured I was that big. At least not among most folks,” Rix said, pulling away a large piece of equipment and looking for a place to either set it down or hang it up.

“Please place your equipment against the wall. I will need to check it for integrity before you return to your vessel,” Munto intervened.

“Sure, thanks!” Rix said and set the equipment down against the wall of the chamber.

Munto waited a bit longer as Rix continued to remove the bulky equipment to reveal a still substantial specimen of an organic. The room had become crowded enough that they had tried to pick up one of the cases, but was unable to do so within the standard servos of the frame, at least not without either damaging the frame or lowering the artificial gravity.

Rix turned and picked up both cases without apparent effort.

“Lead the way little buddy,” he said, looking at the walking frame expectantly.

Munto gritted their circuits again. This was going to be a very long day indeed.