Memory transcription subject: Governor Tarva of the Venlil Republic
Date [standardized aurigan time]: Fall 6, 1 AA
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In just a few short months the aurigans went from being attacked by the Gojidi Union to their saviors, but with every victory seemed to come a massive setback. Serz had just returned from Aafa with the representatives from the species which wanted formal relations with the Federacy, which was initially a great step forward, only for the news of the Kolshian betrayal to slap me in the face like a sack full of grain.
We would need to test for evidence at a later date, but for now we had to deal with the ambassadors and representatives from ten species, plus Recel. Though the latter was clearly distraught about the whole situation, and had retired to his assigned quarters as soon as the delegation arrived.
"Are you sure you saw the Kolshians sabotage our ships?" Cupo asked Laulo with great indignation, sounding angry at the very notion that they would do that. I did not blame him. If it was true, then it meant the Kolshians had tried to assassinate not just diplomats, but the Mazic President himself.
"Y-Yes? I know what I saw! I'm neither blind nor stupid!" The Yotul ambassador replied.
"Are you sure about that?" Tossa, the Nevok ambassador snorted out, and I shot her a glare with my left eye.
"We will check the subspace drives for DNA evidence later. For now we should focus on the issue at hand." I interjected. "The opening of diplomatic channels with the Aurigans."
"I-I agree. We should... probably stop fighting. And let the investigation deal with this." The Sivkit ambassador finally spoke up, her voice low and meek. She clearly had a hard time dealing with the situation, especially with all the shouting.
"Speaking of the Aurigans. Where are they? We've been waiting in this meeting room for half an hour already." The Mazic President spoke up again, tossing his trunk left to right in frustration.
"Maybe the Nevok offer to scrap the Argosy for parts offended them so much they cancelled the meeting." The Fissan ambassador responded with amusement.
"Oh please, if anything offended them it was your attempt to trade sub-par micro electronics for their recycling technology!" Tossa retorted, elicing a groan from both Cupo and Laulo.
"They're not sub-par, they're affordable! There's a difference!" The Fissan shot back.
"Affordable? You mean cheap?" Tossa once more retorted.
The squabble was mercifully interrupted by the door to the meeting room opening, revealing a black-haired mezari wearing a small shoulder cape, with Recel in tow. The Mezari's arms and face were tattoo'd with lines, and her head fur was trimmed into a short bob that reminded me of the way birds' wings wrapped around their bodies.
"Apologies for the wait, we had to deal with an internal security issue." The Mezari began, gesturing lightly with her hands, in which she had a data pad and a stylus. "My name is Petrov Jutka, though you may call me Jutka. As of today I am the official civil governor of the Aurigans here on Venlil Prime, and currently the only Senator of the Federacy. It is my job to ensure my people's interests are respected in the coming negotiations."
"No need to introduce yourselves, I've already been briefed on who is who." Jutka then added, before sitting down at the table inbetween myself and Laulo. Recel stayed quiet throughout the governor's introduction, and sheepishly sat next to her. I noticed he looked like he'd been crying, but decided not to push it. No doubt he had been distraught over the news of his people's attempt on his life, and had to be convinced to actually come out of his room for these meetings.
"I assumed Serz would be the one representing your people. Why is he not part of these proceedings?" Cupo tutted.
"Serz is touring Venlil Prime over the next few days, as a show of good faith, along with representatives from the Allayi and Gaurans." I interjected. "He's been invited to several galas and forums as a speaker, so it seemed good to organize a formal tour so that he may attend."
"Oh- That was fast." Tossa spoke up.
"It was all discussed before we left for Aafa, and the plans were formalized while we were away." I explained.
"Indeed, Kersho is busy at the moment, so I am representing the guilds and families for the duration of his tour." Jutka spoke again, before pulling up some information on her holopad.
"Guilds?" Laulo asked, perking up at the word. If any of the Federation diplomats here knew what a guild was it was probably him.
"Yes, guilds. Our economy is driven by a collection of seventeen guilds, representing the interests of everyone from dustmen and alchemists to weavers and miners. Trade with the Federacy means trade with the guilds. The guilds are the ones who procure materials and produce goods, under guild laws and to guild standards. The monarchy, the guilds, and the great families form the Federacy's political base."
"So we have to deal with over a dozen guilds for trading rights?!" The Fissan ambassador asked in shock, throwing his head back.
"The guilds have already compiled a list of what they're willing to trade, and what they require, if you wish to capitalize on any of their offers or requests then yes, you'll have to deal with them."
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The Fissan and Nevok both seemed distraught at the idea of having to deal with so many individual predators just to trade with the Federacy, and Laulo snuck in a small snicker at their distress.
After a brief moment of silence, Jutka spoke up again. "Right... With that out of the way, we should begin the actual meeting. Who would like to put forth a basic proposal?"
"I would!" Laulo spoke out with enthusiasm. "I mean, the Yotul people would. We would like to offer our resources and labor in exchange for spacecraft. We don't yet have the industrial base to build our own fleets, and nobody in the Federation can just print out ships like the Aurigans can."
"That is more than acceptable, ambassador Laulo. We are in need of workers to build up our infrastructure, as well as to help the Gojidi Union rebuild as part of our agreement."
"Really, you're giving the primitives ships? They've barely been inducted into the Federation! They don't know how to fly yet!" Tossa protested, eliciting a cough from Jutka.
"Neither did we before we left Auriga, but we've been able to effectively apply underwater experience principles to space, and our people are quick learners. I'm sure the Yotul will do just as well at picking them up. If you stop trying to dissuade them from it, at least."
"U-Underwater experience? Your people have waded into the depths? Where nothing but predators live?" The Mazic asked, his shock shared by everyone there, even Axsely was drawn out of her quietness by the thought, gasping in horror.
"...Yes, we've 'waded into the depths' with specialized vehicles that can submerge and surface as we please. You've never explored your oceans?" The mezari ambassador seemed as shocked by the idea of not exploring the oceans as we were by the idea of exploring them. The oceans were filled with large predators, which feasted on smaller predators, which feasted on even smaller predators, and only at the microscopic scale could one find herbivores in there.
"Not even your people?" She then asked Recel, raising a brow in befuddlement.
The sudden question snapped Recel out of his own thoughts, and he looked up at Jutka with a drawn out "Uhh..." He then took a deep breath. "No, no, we didn't. While our ancestors were likely aquatic, they left the ocean long before we evolved. We're as terrestrial as everyone else."
"N-Not everyone else." The Thakfi ambassador spoke up. "The Thakfi are equally comfortable in water as we are on land. Our communities are the only ones that build swimming pools."
The Mezari governor took a moment to look through the datapad she had on her, letting out a thoughtful noise before responding. "I see in my notes that your homeworld was lost to the Arxur. Did you ever explore its oceans?"
"N-No, of course not. Oceans are dangerous! Everyone knows that!" The Thakfi shook her head at the suggestion, and Jutka once again let out a thoughtful noise.
"I see, thank you for clarifying. Let us get back to the proceedings, shall we?" Jutka responded, before looking at the Mazic President. "We have a proposal of our own we'd like to put forwards. To the Mazic Presidium. If I may."
Cupo was surprised, if briefly, by the Mezari wanting something specifically of his people, but he gave a confirmative gesture with his trunk and responded that "Of course, go on."
"Your larger size means that you require vastly more food and space than other species. And this has led to both your farms and spaceships being the most massive in the Federation. Correct?"
"Yes, that is true... What are you getting at, Governor Petrov?"
"We would like to trade you automatic worker drones, up front, in exchange for future surplus. The drones would allow you to speed up production in both agricultural and industrial fields, which means you'll get higher yields and faster construction for the same amount of work. It would also allow you to cut down on expenses since the drones can work uninterrupted and for free."
"Automatic drones? That sound too good to be true! And who would maintain these drones?" Cupo asked, his tone seemed interested, but cautious.
"They operate on Dust, making them self maintaining. Dust powered technology can last for thousands of years with little to no breakdown."
"What is Dust? I've heard Serz sing about it, but that's all I know." The Mazic asked, and I realized that the ambassadors hadn't been briefed on the Mezari's use of Dust yet.
"It's an ancient nanomachine that could be found everywhere on Auriga, and much of our technology and medicine relies on its use. We will send each of you a comprehensive data packet on it later."
"And you don't just directly trade us this 'miracle nanobot' why?" Cupo asked, sounding a bit offended.
"Because working with Dust is dangerous, it needs specific training to handle safely. And while it's self-replicating, we don't have much of it. So we're trying to use it sparingly."
"How do we know it's even real then?" The Nevok representative asked.
"Oh, it's real." Recel interjected, and all the ambassadors that were on his shuttle gave some gesture of affirmation. "I saw it with my own eyes. The Mezari ambassador used his mind to reach out to the dust on my body, and used it to create the shape of his face, and it spoke words too! Everyone on the shuttle saw it!"
"Because he screamed like a child." The Fissan added.
"W-we rushed in... and it was a face, of gold, glowing. I-I fainted." Axsely spoke up meekly.
"Yes, it's very real, but for now limited, and we'd need to teach others how to handle it so as not to die a horrific death. Don't worry, Dust technology is safe to use, it is raw Dust that is dangerous. So the drones are perfectly safe to use." Jutka brought the conversation back on track.
Cupo thought about it for a moment, before finally giving an agreeable sign with his trunk. "I'll require a demonstration of these drones first, then we shall see."
"More than acceptable. We will give you a demonstration first thing tomorrow." Jutka said, sounding more sure of herself than before this point.
All in all the first day of negotiations went well. Recel stayed mostly quiet, and I wasn't sure how he would do his job at all in the coming months, seeing as his own people tried to assassinate him. So communications between them and the Aurigan were likely never going to happen.
The Dossur representative offered technical support to the Aurigans, trying to work with them on integrating our two very different technological bases together, and in exchange they wanted the Aurigan's protection.
The Fissan and Nevok representatives spent most of the talks interjecting, and then ending up trying to outdo each other in some fashion. The Thafki and Takkan didn't have anything to offer, they pretty much just swore to give any aid they could to the Aurigan in the war effort against the Arxur.
Chauson waited till the end of the meeting to put forth a proposal, since he'd already convinced the Prime Minister to broker a trade deal with the Aurigans while I was still on Aafa. He proposed a medical exchange program between the Zurulians and the Aurigans, mostly intended to teach the Federation and the Federacy about each other's species. It was going to take the form of a series of lectures, and direct exchanges of data, before hopefully upgrading to co-operative research projects.
And finally, the Paltan ambassador. He was mostly there to observe, and didn't put forward any proposal. The distance between Venlil Prime and the Paltan Combine made any potential trade agreement slow and ponderous, so he wanted to talk with the Guilds first and ensure that whatever trade deals were struck, they would be worth the time and effort.