"Jay Sen... if you don't mind me saying so, you seem distracted at the moment," Akhia says as she takes her seat at the chair on the far side of the table. The four of them have relocated to another meeting room only a few doors down from the one they were just in. As his two guards take their positions by the door, the impassive masks of their helmets still blocking their faces from view, Jaycen slips into a chair opposite from Akhia.

"Uh, yeah, I guess I am," he admits sheepishly. There were a few things running through his head. For one, the way her mouth and the English of her translator didn't sync up made him feel like he was talking to an old, badly dubbed movie. second, the fact that he wasn't being held captive by horrible space monsters, with massive pointy teeth and acidic tentacles or something, honestly kind of blindsided him. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but... generally attractive aliens definitely wasn't it. I mean, all of them obviously aren't human, of course. That much was clear at a glance, but they still look similar enough to humanity that it makes him feel a bit suspicious. Maybe his expectations were skewed because he'd seen too many schlocky sci-fi movies. And lastly, he couldn't shake the strangely aggressive and confrontational words of that one asshole from his mind. "Well… Doc, what did that guy mean when he called me a killer?”

Akhia gave a click of her palps, which now that her helmet was off Jaycen could see twitch as she made the strange sound. “I apologize for my colleagues words, Jay Sen. The word he used is not a kind one, and I was surprised to hear Xakyg sacrifice his professional integrity in from of Doctor Kyxoro simply to insult you." She takes a moment to fold her hands on to the table in front of her, her back rigid against the chair. "I suppose to begin, I must explain to you how the Galactic Coalition classifies the planets that its constituent species hail from.”

She taps away at a small keypad set into the table, and a moment later the air between them lights up as the table begins projecting a slowly rotating hologram of a planet that looked not unlike Earth, with green and brown on the continents, and masses of blue ocean separating them. “To put it simply, we classify our planets in five classes. Class One and Class Two worlds are capable of maintaining complex and diverse life forms. The only major difference between them is that class one worlds tend to be more comfortable to live in. The image in front of you is of my home world, which is a class two world.”

"Oh yeah,” Jaycen said as he focused on the hologram, “You said it was called Chak, right?"

"Yes," she replies as her antennae suddenly tense on her head, "To be honest, I am surprised you remember."

Jaycen feels himself start to blush again. "Well, I mean, who wouldn’t remember their first time meeting with an honest to god space alien? If nothing else, it’ll be a great story to tell once I’m back..."

And then a small twinge of dread runs through his mind as he remembers the exact nature of his internment.

She nods to him, and if she realizes his momentary change in demeanor, she at the least has the tact to not comment on it. She taps again at the keypad, and a second world pops up next to Chak. This one has significantly less green and blue on its surface, and as the planet rotated over to show the side covered in nightfall, there are only occasional lights indicating large scale settlement. “This is a Class Three world, which is a planet able to sustain life, but only with significant sapient intervention, usually via terraforming.”

Again she tapped, and brought up a planet that was nothing more than a barren red rock, not unlike Mars. “And this is a Class Four world, which can’t sustain life at all. That doesn’t necessarily mean people don’t live there; there may be mining outposts and research stations on such a planet, but generally speaking, they’re not capable of maintaining significant populations.”

Jaycen nods along with her explanation, starting to get it. It wasn't dissimilar to how the authorities back on Earth classified colonization prospects, though they just used a binary system. If the planet had a breathable atmosphere, it was colonizable. If it didn't, it wasn't. “So what’s Earth, then? A class two?”

Akhia gives another click of her palps, and Jaycen didn’t miss that she quickly breaks eye contact with him. “This is difficult for me to say, but we call a planet like yours… well, they are officially Class Five worlds, but we usually use the term Death World.”

“...Come again?”

“Death World. A planet so ravaged by disease and violent predators that sapient life is almost impossible to develop naturally, let alone reach a stage of technological development where they develop interstellar warp drive. While death worlds are capable of sustaining life, they're not likely to house any Coalition species. Quite simply... with so many planets available, it's just not worth the effort.”

Jaycen leans back in his chair, not quite sure how to take that. "Isn't that a little... dramatic? I mean, Earth can't really be that much more dangerous than your home planet, right?"

Akhia pauses for a moment before she responds, her bug like mouth parts wiggling in some sort of body language display Jaycen couldn't even begin to guess at the purpose of. "While I understand this may seem strange from your perspective, I can assure you Jay Sen, your home is... quite outside the norm."

Jaycen strokes his chin, the scruff of a week without shaving brushing against his fingers, as he thinks for a moment about her words. "Well, I guess it's kind of cool that there's something special about us," he says with a smug grin.

Akhia dismisses the hologram from the table with another few taps on the keypad. "To get back to your original question, along with this classification system, we also have similar terms we use to refer to sapients from each of these planets. Someone like you is officially termed a "Survivor", which was a term that was decided on after significant debate. Up until humanity was discovered by Coallition representatives, we had never really needed an official term for Death World sapients."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Jaycen's smug grin quickly vanishes from his face. "Ah. I see where this is going. So "killer" must be a term that caught on before the PC language was created."

Akhia tilts her head and clicks her palps. "I'm not sure I understand what "pee see" means, but I believe you have surmised the situation. While death worlder is a more neutral term, killer has caught on as a more colloquial, and to be frank, pejorative term. For some time, it was widely believed that any sapient from a death world would have to be a quite powerful and brutish creature."

Jaycen chuckles to himself. "Well, I wouldn't consider myself weak, but yeah that seems to be a bit much." Her scratches his chin again before deciding to dive right into his next question. "That aside, there's something else I'm curious about. Isn't it a bit... strange that we look so similar?"

Akhia again tilts her head, she oversized black eyes scintillating in the room's artificial light. "I'm not sure I understand the inquiry, Jay Sen."

"Well, I mean..." He searches for a moment to find the right words. "I dunno if this is just my intrinsic bias towards my own species here, but doesn't everyone look fairly... I guess, human? Like, facially, I mean."

Akhia's eyes widen with sudden understanding. "Oh, yes, I think I understand what you're getting at. I will admit there is a reason for that. The scientists selected for this study, or more accurately their species, were chosen in part because of their superficial similarity to your people. If the study went well and we were allowed to make first contact, the head scientists of the study would be the ones to have the honor. It was our hope that a level of similarity in form and mannerisms would help smooth your people's acceptance of the greater galactic community."

"Wow, you've really thought all this out."

Akhia gives him a small smile. "All of our protocols were written through trial and error. Some of the earlier species contacted by the Coalition did not have the advantage of the system being so formalized."

Even through the cultural barrier and the synthesized translator, Jaycen can feel the weight of Akhia's words. "Well... Thanks for small favors, I guess." He does a small stretch for a moment, and adjusts his seating position. "Alright, I think that's all the questions I have for now. You were supposed to debrief me or whatever, yeah?"

Akhia nods, her expression brightening considerably. "Yes, and I believe we should begin with explaining the ship layout and what parts of it you'll have access to." With a few more taps of her keypad, another hologram appears over the table showing a cross section of a strangely shaped craft. Jaycen isn't unfamiliar with spaceships, he'd flown on a few in the past, but human ships all tended towards a generally aerodynamic design, despite the fact that there isn't any air in space to dynam; most ships he'd been on were transport craft, and so they needed to function reasonably well in atmosphere. The one on the hologram in front of him, however, evidently did not. It was generally shaped like an oblong disc, but with eight rectangular arms that stuck out from the central structure. On the top and bottom of the disc were another set of arms, but these ran parallel with each other instead of jutting radially from the craft; Jaycen had to assume these were some sort of engine. There was plenty of text labeling different areas of the ship, not the he can read any of the alien script, and the cross section of the central disk structure has three floors. A glowing red dot is blinking in and out in one of the small rooms on the central floor.

"The red marker indicates our current location," Akhia says as she gestures out towards the holographic display. "You will have full access to the entirety of this floor, which includes the dining hall, recreation area, communal hygiene stations, and medical bay. You are currently quartered in one of the medical bay's exam rooms. You will have free access to almost everything on this floor." She then taps away at her keypad for a moment and the eight arms that spoke out from the center of the craft light up. "The exception is these research wings. All of them contain sensitive equipment and confidential documentation, and as such your access to them will be restricted."

Moving on, she taps again and the upper floor of the main structure becomes highlighted. "This floor contains the bridge, as well as the personal quarters of the higher ranking crew members and scientists. Of course, unless you are called up here by the captain of the ship, you will not have access to this area."

Lastly, she highlights the lower floor. "This floor contains the common quarters, as well as the transport bay. While you have partial access to this area, I don't believe you'll actually need to enter this part of the ship. The crew's individual rooms are off limits for privacy, and while the shuttle bay is open to you, there's nothing really there you'd need to make use of."

Jaycen briefly considers mentioning that giving him access to their transport shuttles was probably a bad idea, but decides against it. "Does that mean I'm not getting a proper room?"

Akhia glances away for a moment before resuming her rigid posture and to look straight at him. "Unfortunately, you will not. You'll be staying in the same room as before. It's a converted medical exam room, hence why it has it's own hygiene station. Ultimately, it was decided that was for the best, since it's significantly more secure than the crew quarters."

Jaycen gave a sharp laugh. "Ah, I see now. Gotta be careful with the human, in case you have to lock me up again."

"That is not an inaccurate assessment." Nonetheless, she quickly composes herself and dismisses the hologram from above the table. "If you're ready, I can give you a personal tour of the areas you have access to. At the very least, I need to familiarize you with how the ordering system in the dining hall works."

Jaycen shrugs. "Yeah sure, may as well. And while we're at it, can you show me your gym? I haven't had a decent workout all week, and I'm starting to get antsy." He glaces at her antennae again and quickly adds, "Uh, no offense."

Akhia tilts her head to the side again, her antennae twitching. "I'm sorry, the translator missed one of those words. What is gym?"

"Oh, it's short for gymnasium," Jaycen answers back.

For a moment, Akhia's antennae twitch and wiggle as she looks into the middle distance, deep in thought. "I do not believe that word is translating properly. Can you please elaborate on what that is?"

Jaycen shrugs. "Uh, well... It's like an exercise room. A place to work out."

Akhia takes a moment again to process his words, then takes a deep breath before she responds. "Jaycen, if you must exercise, can't you do so in your room? You shouldn't need a dedicated space for that."

"Well, yeah," he responds, "and I have. But I'd like to actually do some lifting. Ever since I've started working on the farm, I've put on a lot of muscle. And to be honest, I'd like to keep it if I can."

"What... put on muscle?" she asks, her eyes wide. "Your species can generate muscle mass on command?"

"Not on command, but yeah... I guess?" he answers with another awkward shrug. "Why, is that strange?"

Akhia stands up quickly from her seat and begins typing away at her datapad as she heads for the exit, the two guards swiftly moving out of her way as the door opens. "Jaycen, I'm setting up an appointment for immediately after we finish the tour. The bio team needs to know about this."

Jaycen stands up to follow her, dragging himself to his feet with a heavy sigh. "Yeah sure, whatever you say Doc. Not like I've got anything better to do."