Mikato meet Nexus

[Wuufu]

The group listened with rapt attention as the Advocate spoke about mentorship and the Nexus Council. For such alien an experience, the similarities of law, diplomacy and the existence of a council that helped govern things helped bring a little Mitakan feeling into the conversation. Near the end of it, the Advocate could clearly see looks of curiosity and acceptance passing across the group.

Then the Advocate mentioned meeting other aliens, and once again uncertainty returned. Eyes turned back to Cassie.

"Y-Yes, of course," Cassie's voice was a little shaky, but solidified as she sunk into her position. "We're here to see as much as we can so we can return to the Federal Council with information. Please, lead on."

► Not Roleplay

Two things. First, the planet is called Mikato, the species Mitaku. Second, I am loving playing an uncertain Cassie. It's like the first day at a new school/job! Will be interesting in present day posts just how much she has warmed to life in the Nexus.

[Xah]

The Advocate sat on one of the 'chairs' in the area and smiled quickly again. "Excellent. The proper response has been sent, and we shall be meeting with other Clients shortly. Similarities to your physiological form, what we term 'standard humanoid', is not uncommon in the universes we have accessed, but neither is it in the majority. You will find species of all shapes and sizes within the Nexus."

Yet again, without a feeling of motion at all, the Enovy craft moved, away from the world and towards the Gate. The Gate itself appeared as just a 'hole' in space, and passing through had no sensation at all; one moment the surroundings were of a starfield and a distant planet, the next a more confined, yet seemingly endless cylinder that stretched out in either direction. In one direction, the Nexus appeared bare, with a slight bronze colour to it, There was no atmosphere haze, and the corridor-like appearance disappeared off into the vanishing point. The other direction was much different. A few hundred kilometres away, yet seemingly much closer, was a thin line of brightness that started at the side of the Nexus, rose up to the centre point and then curved away down the Nexus, it's light illuminating everything around it. Whilst most of the Nexus in that direction was also bare, every now again was a splash of alternate colours, sometimes with a haze of atmosphere surrounding it. Vessels moved with relative slowness up and down the Nexus, some tiny pinprincks, only visible due to their movement, others much larger, kilometres long. A few hundred kilometres distant, one of these crafts lowered itself towards the surface, before sliding through a Gate into the universe beyond.

"We recognise that the scale of the Nexus may appear to be overwhelming," the Advocate said. "This is the furthest reach of the Nexus so far; we are almost four hundred thousand kilometres from Hub. As we travel along the Nexus, it will become less stark and more populated. We often find that Clients prefer that, as it conceals the immensity of the Nexus somewhat. At the building ahead we will take on some other Clients, and then proceed to Hub. The journey to Hub should only take a few minutes, but we can go slower if you would like to view the Nexus as we pass."

Sure enough, right next to the Gate to Mikato was a grey, stepped pyramid building, a few hundred meters in width. It floated above the surface of the Nexus and the Enovy craft approached, slowed, then docked with a slot just the right shape. A faint, barely visible field connected the two and a doorway opened up in the side. A few moments later and four shapes entered; within a sphere of what appeared to be water was a large, spherical collection of spines, next to that was a shorter three legged, two armed being with a flat head, then there was a two metre high being made up of four legs and four arms and no discernible head, and finally what appeared to be a couple dozen half-metre insectiods, all gathered together into a larger whole.

"These are the representatives from Morthanveld, Kadjar, Bowlia and Talik," the Advocate said. "They all have translators, so are able to understand your language, and likewise, their communications will be translated for you."

► Show Spoiler

[Wuufu]

For a moment, silence reigned. The beings standing before them were so alien, so alien, that for a moment the Mitakans standing there could do nothing but stare in absolute wonder as if God himself was standing in their midst. It wouldn't have been surprising at all to anyone watching if they had suddenly dropped to their knees and began to chatter incoherently in some kind of worship, but luckily this did not come to pass.

Cassie was the first to recover, to her own surprise. Or perhaps not, given her many years musing on the possibilities of alien life and the words that they might utter, not to mention how they would utter them, what the language might be made up of, how their grammar differentiated from the Mitakan's own speech. And now these very beings were in front of her, more vivid and real than anything she could conjure from her own imagination, and she was the sole representative of her entire species.

"Aaaah..."

It wasn't a great start, but it helped to solidify her mind into actually speaking. Through her embarrassed haze she was sure the other beings were judging her.

"It is a pleasure to be within your presence, and I apologise for our... reactions. This morning we awoke to thinking we were the only intelligent beings in the known universe, and tonight we shall sleep knowing we are not. It is quite the revelation."

[Xah]

"That is not an uncommon emotion to be experiencing, a lot of new Clients feel similarly. We accept the wide reaching psychological consequences that our revelation brings," the Advocate said. "Unfortunately, we can see no way to make it easier if we are to continue with our destiny to link universes."

There was a series of rapid clicks from the sphere of water containing the spiny creature, which was soon translated into a low-toned neutral sounding voice. "The Morthanveld Collective sympathises with your emotions," it said. "Our first contact was many decades ago, but before that, we were even unaware that there was a universe beyond the ice canopy of our ocean, let alone that other intelligent life existed."

"I/We feel same," the insectoid collection said, in a breathy, rustling tone. "Existence of one mind intelligence is hard thing for we/us to think, but Nexus opens new idea for I/we."

The craft continued its journey down the Nexus, passing more and more built-up areas, including some large cities with buildings that rose kilometres up into the Nexus. Up ahead a construct became more visible; a large cylinder that occupied the centre of the Nexus and appeared to be the final destination for the dozen or so bright streams that curled around the middle of the Nexus like a coil made of plasma. The vastness of Hub only became apparent as the Envoy craft got closer; its 200 kilometre length and 25 kilometre width broken up by the stepped pyramid style and various sections and openings within it.

"Hub occupies the centre of the Nexus, both in length and diameter," the Advocate said. "The Gates and Clients around here are some of the oldest we have, although some Gates and Clients have been lost over the eons. Here we will introduce you to the Nexus Council chambers, and should you wish, you may watch a council session taking place. We will also meet with the Nexus Client Board, and formal negotiations about your status as a Client can begin. Although we acknowledge that such a process will take some time."

[Wuufu]

The Mitakans watched with awe as the other clients gave their thoughts, and how different they were from their own species. They watched in awe as the vessel made its way along the Nexus towards the Hub.

Cassie, who had taken it upon herself to keep the conversation going, turned towards the Clients who had spoken. “You are certainly wondrous beings. The ideas of sentient intelligence beyond our own world, especially one of a single mind, has only been theorised in our fantasies. We would love to share what we have so we can learn more about each other.”

She then turned to the Advocate. “We would be delighted to witness whatever it is you have to show us. It is really rather an honour to be here.”

“Excuse me?” the voice of Mote turned the attention onto the slightly paler form of the security chief, who looked slightly more on edge than usual but making a visibly concerted effort to stay calm. “Who lives in those cities below? Are they yours?”

► Not Roleplay

Just decided to scrap my jumble of notes and write it afresh. Came out cleaner!

[Xah]

The Advocate turned to Mote and offered an smile, although the slightly otherworldly appearance of the artificial Mitakan probably didn't help any. "All Owners' original form, what you might consider its core intelligence, is held on Hub in a digital format. Owner physical forms can be operated remotely by said intelligence, although it is common to assign high levels of independence to one's physical forms and merely upload its memories at regular intervals. As such, we have no real need for cities in the traditional sense." It gestured to the cities below. "Those cities are what we designate Foci; places where all Clients are free to live and work. It is where most of the trade that takes place in the Nexus is conducted, not all are large, but most are, and the biggest house many hundreds of millions of sentient beings. Many Clients, upon acceptance of the Nexus, choose to forgo expansion in their own universe and instead have much of their population colonise the Nexus. It is safe from random occurrences, such as supernova and comet strikes, and it leaves their own universe free for resource extraction."

The eight-limbed Kadjar made an alien gesture with its limbs. "Our system was subject to frequent radiation exposure from a nearby star cluster with many neutron stars. This made our world barren and low on volatiles such as water. When the Owners contacted us, we had just survived one such exposure event and our population was dangerously low. The Nexus allowed us to move most of our population away from the dangers of our home system. Even though technology has stabilised the nearby stars, and our home world is relatively safe, most still prefer to live here."

The Envoy Craft approached the bulk of Hub and soon it dominated the view, before the vessel entered a large dock in its side. Once stopped, a connecting platform extended and linked to the craft. "If you would follow me," the Advocate said. "I will show you the Council in session and then you may meet the negotiators involved in your Client status."

[Wuufu]

"Very good," Cassie nodded at the Advocate. "Lead on."