Nako sat back and watched as the citizen labourers set up the unique amphitheatre. Three tables were set to Miss Howe’s specific requirements, while he recognised containers of raw nutrients, the tools and equipment were closer to that of medical scalpels.

Nako’s fingernail picked at the joint in his lower elbow. He still had not shaken the echo’s of the great sadness, he was hoping that experiencing miss howe in her calling would finally shake off the lingering emotional scars that held him captive.

He was not the only audience member, much of the Esaander crew who weren’t opposed to jasmine or who were just curious in general had made their way down to the demonstration taking their seats behind him. Laandi wore a rather formal gown, flowing from the shoulders in the Esaander company colours, black and orange. The entire genetics teams were gossiping and exchanging stories of some new gene they had discovered in the dogs DNA.

Dr Yusa had arrived and did an outstanding job of pretending they had not spoken in private, bowing her head with demure grace, before taking her seat.

Dr jess having learned the hard way that Nako did not respond to traditional sycophancy, did her best to pretend that they had never met, in case she unwittingly incurred further wrath.

They didn’t have to wait long for the guest of honour to arrive, escorted by her strange collection of an entourage, Miss Jasmine Howe seemed to be in deep discussion with her Zenthi compatriot. It was up to the captain to announce their arrival and maintain some semblance of formality, much to his annoyance.

Rynard stood at attention, hands behind his back the loud thump of his foot and tail against the floor snapped the pair out of their conversation.

“Her Grace, Miss Jasmine Howe!” he announced with a playful grin.

Jasmine gave an awkward cough as she composed herself.

“Thankyou Rynard-”

“‘Captain’,” Xant corrected her, “Titles are used in a formal setting,”

“Right, thank you Captain,” she said as she passed the behemoth and walked over to the table that had been so kindly set up for her.

“Uhh good morning! Or, good afternoon everyone, please, talk amongst yourselves while I familiarise myself with the new ingredients and equipment. I won’t make you wait too long I promise!” she chuckled to hide her nerves.

Jasmine’s eyes studied the new tools laid before her, spatula tongs, varying sizes of spoons all made from durable silicone. Her pots and pans, however, were stolen from the medical wing, glass beakers, vials, and Petri-dishes configured with silicone handles.

“Is everything to your liking?” Xant asked, waiting for her opinion.

“You’ve done really well considering you only had my sketches to work from, this is all really clever, although I’m not used to cooking with glass,” she replied inspecting the frying pan, “although I’m sure ‘chef’ would forgive me for using what we had on hand.”

“I’m afraid the fabricators are not capable of moulding steel or copper to your requirements within the time allotted. Plastics and glassware however are always readily available.”

“It’s fine Xant,” jasmine assured him as she pulled out the Chef’s knife Nako had gifted her “I only wish I had more ingredients, I’ll have my work cut out for me.”

Xant looked over at the bowls confused.

“Is two hands and two of fingers worth of ingredients not enough?”

Jasmine noted the strange idiom as she ran her fingers down the sharpened steel blade.

“In human cuisine we don’t normally count 7 ingredients as a lot, especially if salt,water and oil are considered ‘ingredients’. They’re usually standard.” at the end of the long table was a large plastic cooler, she tentatively opened the lid and was overjoyed.

“Whoa! You got two in here?!” she had to stop herself from squealing in delight at the sight of the luxurious fish. Tuna, the size of her forearm, sat prettily atop some dry ice.

“(Wait, wasn’t there only one fish in the tank)-” she thought before her brain put two and two together. “Xant? Are these fish clones?”

“Of the living specimen? Yes, grown in the genetics lab,” he smoothed over his ears, “They were quite expensive to produce, since together they have almost the same muscle mass as one of the captain’s biceps.”

Rynard involuntarily flexed on mention.

“How expensive?” Jasmine asked genuinely curious.

“Almost [5 years] contribution credit,” Xant calculated.

The human shook her head and stared at the fish, both the equivalent of a house down payment or a decent car. Tuna itself was known to be worth quite a bit at the higher grades, but she doubted she’d ever be able to properly tell.

Jasmine cracked her knuckles and took her knife in hand.

“Right, Xant, Rynard, take the dogs and have a seat,” she waved them off, “Enjoy the show!”

Xant shepherded the dogs back to the makeshift audience. As they took their seats Jasmine put on a show-stopping smile.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the presentation, today I will be demonstrating human cooking techniques and practices.”

“First thing I will be doing is putting our water on boil.”

Since cooking was not a common activity outside of bulk waudess processing, the hotplate was a makeshift hot iron coil hooked up to what she assumed was an alien battery, large enough for the glass beakers to sit upon approved for the temperatures of course.

“We'll add a pinch of salt and once we've got that going we can clean our fish,”

Jasmine pulled out the tuna that was just about as long as her entire arm “We need to remove scales innards and the head then we can cut the fillets off the skeleton,”

Jasmine was too busy running her Japanese steel down the tuna’s skin to notice the reaction from the crowd a mixture of disgust and fascination. The human used the back of the blade to forcibly rip the scales from the fish’s head, tail and top fins, running her hands over the flesh to see if she had removed them all to her satisfaction.

“So, I've never cleaned a full tuna before, but I've done similar fish so I will start with the gutting,”

Suddenly she lifted the gills and without hesitation slipped the knife between the muscles. A loud, disturbing crunch was heard as she severed the spine from the head. The controlled strength from her arm as the other hand tore the head from the body was brutal, reminding the staff that she was just as capable of the physical violence as other military models.

“The head has a decent amount of muscle and umami in it, but since humans don’t normally find it too appetising to eat a fish's head we will use it in our broth.”

Jasmine casually explained as she cracked open the fish’s skull with the knife before scooping out its eyes with her fingers, promptly plopping the broken heads into the salty boiling water.

“Now normally I would add fragrant herbs and vegetables but since I'm still figuring out how the few ingredients I have still work together, plain fish stock it is.”

She swiftly moved onto the belly of the fish slicing along with almost surgical precision, careful not to puncture the stomach and other internal organs, explaining to the aliens as such before pushing apart the flesh and pulling the innards from the body wall.

“You can use the organs for some things but nothing edible really, we use them for bait for larger predatory fish but for now we'll just put them aside.”

She filled an unused beaker with the organs and Xant could only grimace at the expensive waste material, if he knew Jasmine was just going to discard them he would have simply grown in the muscles of the fish instead of the whole thing.

“Next we have the collar bones,” She began cutting along the bones of the fish, talking as she did so, “Since I don't have too many vegetables to accompany this dish, I'll be making sashimi cuts, pan-fried fillet and seared steaks,”

She pulled out the fillet and laid down expertly the sharpened steel gliding through the flesh with ease, making extremely thin cuts before placing them on a ceramic tile in a wing arrangement.

Xant gulped, the contrast was striking, a the delicate, artful display with gruesome subject matter. He noticed that the Lieutenant was wiggling his antennae enthralled.

“Next I'll be seasoning them with a pinch of salt and the skin of-” Jasmine plucked out a small round green fruit, bringing it under her nose for a sniff before asking the crowd. “Uh, what's this fruits name?”

“It's called a Kykaki!” Arc called out excited to answer the question.

“Thanks!” Jasmine said as she washed the knife before cutting into the fruit on a different surface, “I’ll use the acidic, citrus style juice of the Kykaki with salt on the sashimi to flavour it and ensure bacteria doesn’t spoil the meat. It's actually very close to a fruit back home, a cross between a lime and grapefruit with a hint of mint.”

She squeezed the juice over the slices before sprinkling with a pinch of salt, then she pushed the plate forward and started cutting the skin off the Kykaki.

“Humans call this part of the fruit rind the ‘zest’ and I'll be using the minced zest as a flavouring for the coating on my tuna fillet,” demonstrating another knife technique, Jasmine began chopping the green rind in quick succession, from different angles and scraping it back into place until the once thick fruit skin was little more than a crumbly pile.

“Normally I would have wheat flour but substituting starch and baking soda should recreate the same effect,” Much to the aliens marvel she was applying a unique form of chemistry to a consumable product, “The bicarb soda helps dry out the meat and fats to make it crispy, the starch is a thickener and the bulk of the ‘breading’.”

Salt, starch, bicarb and zest went into the bowl she turned on the second hot plate and chuckled when she picked up the ‘pan’. Xant was kind enough to make her a glass-bottom skillet, complete with silicone handle as he was worried about heat transfer, never mind her hands were heat treated via kitchen exposure. She set the pan heat on low before getting a small block of vegetable fat to melt in the bottom. Although from the smell of it it seemed more like Tallow or ghee, with the amount of protein in the waudess fruit, she wasn't surprised.

“We wait until the fat is foaming hot then coat our fillet pieces and place it in the pan, this method is called ‘frying’.”

Jess began to mutter into her data slate, the human was juggling three tasks simultaneously, the internal planning and timing were truly impressive all the while explaining what she was doing step by step. Prehaps this was the advantage of having an industrial brain linked to a personal core-processor?

“Any questions from the audience?” The human asked while watching her fillets cook. Of course it was Jess who raised the question first.

“What is the point of ‘breading’? Can you not just ‘fry’ the meat? Why take the extra step?”

Jasmine began coating more pieces and gently placing them into the hot pan so as not to splash hot oil on herself.

“There are many reasons humans do this, for one, the outer layer adds a nice crunch of texture and additional flavour, secondly, the coating also keeps the juices of the meat from overflowing into the oil so the fish stays succulent.” As she laid the third piece of fish into the pan her clean hand reached for the bottle of water and disinfectant to wash the other before picking up a spoon and returning to the boiling pot.

“Do you see the grey bubbles forming on the sides?” Jasmine asked the audience, “That's what we call ‘scum’, it's the impurities found in the bones and marrow. If we want a nice clear broth we scoop it off the surface,” Jasmine expertly dip the spoon into the water and collected the grey foam from the soup disposing of it alongside the entrails. “I can also run the liquid through a cheesecloth a few times, but we don’t have the time or the credits to afford some cotton cloth.”

Laandi gasped and instinctively grasped at her dress, the fact that humans would use natural fibres for food processing was something, ironically, truly alien to the Director.

“Is the preparation of all food so laborious for humans?” Jess asked aloud.

“Oh, this is nothing!” Jasmine exclaimed, all too happy to explain, “There are some dishes that need days worth of preparation, months if you’re waiting for fermentation to happen. We have dishes with more than 50 different components and need several chefs to complete! There are pastries that require the amount of precision expected of surgeons and chemists. You can be off by a single degree and it will fail, a loud noise will flatten it, the wrong amount of sugar will grain it, the wrong amount of butter will burn it and that is just one dish in one culinary art!”

Jasmine took on a different light when she spoke of her home world's food, the passion was infectious but Xant and Nako were sensing the more subtle tones to her mood. Creation, nurturing, generosity, a deep love of the action and craft, true embodiment of her calling.

“I really wish I could show you the true variety of Earth food, you could eat 3 different meals every day for the rest of your life and never eat the same thing twice!”

“Impossible!” came the cry from the audience to which Jasmine laughed.

“Impossible? Hardly! As the old saying goes-” she swapped out the spoon for the spatula without even looking, flipping over the frying fish with a single motion as it hissed with a satisfying sizzle, “Variety is the spice of life!”

The aliens watched as Jasmine began to work more wonders, cutting the stems and leaves of the waudess to steam, mixing something called a ‘vinaigrette’, before arranging the cooked dishes on provided ‘platters’ in very appealing displays.

“Ladies, gentlemen and others, for today's menu we have an entree of (maguro) Bluefin sashimi, accompanied with a delicate and comforting fish broth, our main is fried tuna tenders on a bed of steamed waudess greens, lightly coated in a citrus vinaigrette, followed by freshly seared tuna steaks with a salt crust, medium rare.” She took the sashimi plate from the table and offered Nako a slice. “Bon appetit! ( Eat well!)”

Everyone watched and waited for the Lieutenant to take the first piece. Nako certainly hesitated before opening his beak and mandibles to take a rather conservative bite, embarrassed to be eating in front of others. As his inner teeth chewed, the fish simply melted in his mouth, soon he took another slice then another and another, forgetting the audience around him. Jasmine was handing out the entrees for everyone to try and while the sashimi was delicious in its simplicity, the broth was something truly special. It was Jasmine's welcoming glow distilled into a consumable item, warm and soothing yet delicate with just the right amount of salty sweetness.

“It seems human food has some merit, you have proven your skills match your assets.” Nako complemented.

“Uh, thank you...” she accepted the strange compliment, knowing it was of high praise from the alien but the unintended euphemisms left her feeling awkward. “So what does everyone think?” She asked the hungry crowd, but it was a mixed bag of responses.

Nako, Pa, Nu, Arc and Suk, we're really enjoying themselves, while Xant and Laandi weren't as blown away by the experience as Jasmine had hoped. Jess and her cohorts were frantically studying the cutlets and practically losing their damn minds.

Rynard looked downright disappointed.

“Is everything okay big guy?” she asked concerned.

“Say Jasi… This stuff is fancy but I'm used to something more, well more,” The captain replied, gesturing with large handfuls of air.

Jasmine blinked

“Oh! quantity over quality right?” She realised from his size alone he probably needed to eat about 4 cows worth of protein a day. “I would be able to do a ‘captain size’ portion, but it might be out of our price range…” She looked to Xant for confirmation but it was Laandi who answered.

“it most certainly will be, at least until you are given a contribution credit score,” The graceful alien bowed her head. “My compliments Jasmine, a truly informative presentation.”

“Thank you Laandi!” the human replied, “So what did you think of the food?”

“Well, I thought that our tastes might not coincide, I brought a favourite drink of mine to see how it compared to human tastes,”

She offered Jasmine small, sauce dish worth of thin liquid, the human inspected the dark coloured drink but couldn't smell anything offensive.

“Well bottoms up!” Jasmine took a short swig and immediately regretted the decision, the overpowering burn of salt and orange blocked out any of the previous flavours her tongue was capable of tasting, she tried to hide her gag but Laandi was already chuckling a polite laugh.

“Alas, it seems our pallets are incompatible!”

As Jasmine forcibly swallowed the drink another unpleasant surprise awaited her taste buds,

chalky menthol lingered in the back of her throat.

“Please don't take this the wrong way Laandi, but this tastes like salty, orange toothpaste… Our tastes are indeed incompatible.” Jasmine covered her mouth and tried to stop retching, “I'm sorry but you have to excuse me I need a glass of water,”

“By all means,” Laandi bowed her head and Jasmine all but ran to wash her mouth out.

as she was getting through her second gargle, Jasmine felt a small tap on her elbow. As she turned she met with Jess ‘s face, who was entirely too close and overstimulated. Behind her were two almost exact clones and Jasmine finally saw the little genetic difference between models of scientists.

“Miss Howe, that was a magnificent display!” Jess exclaimed almost shaking with excitement.

“Arrr oooh alwite?” Jasmine garbled between bites.

“I just have so many questions!” The small purple skin dinosaur had forgotten her animosity in favour of obsessive fascination and unleashed a flood of questions.

“You said that food preparation was your designation? Are all human foods prepared with so many ingredients? How are they distributed? How do they keep from spoiling with so little salt? Do you combine amphitheatre with instruction often? What are the kinds of food are there? Are all nutrient preparer’s experience with a presentation and instructing? What is your training structure like? How many humans can one meal feed? What is the production cost per meal? What are the [kilojoules] per meal?!-”

“Whoa whoa whoa! slow down that's a lot of questions, if you record them all I’d be more than happy to answer them within reason-”

That seemed to be good enough for Jess and her crew as they almost ran from Jasmine to start making their notes.

After seeing everyone else had had a bite of one thing or another, Jasmine decided to whip up her own meal. Alongside the many pots pans and tools Xant had taken the time to craft Jasmine some human-style cutlery for her. Knife, fork, spoon, chopsticks and a single set of plates and bowls.

Her own personal set of modern cutlery, she went about cooking her self a bowl and plate of every menu item.

She set the three-course meal out on the table in front of her and pulled up a stool, for the first time in weeks she could eat a meal like she would have done on Earth. Spoon for the broth, chopsticks for sashimi and greens, knife and fork for the steaks and fillets, alternating between everything in order to taste all combinations.

She ignored the stares from the surrounding aliens, etiquette be damned, eating like she was starving. Her stomach had always been full while in the company of aliens, but the taste of something recognisable was a revelation. A small part of the distance between her and Earth closed with every bite.

After she was allowed to breathe and her stomach filled, Jasmine put on a brave face walking up to Lieutenant Nako.

“Sir, Nako?”

“Yes, Miss Howe?”

“I request a formal audience with you, there are some things about my future I would like to discuss with you as a matter of official record.”

the Lieutenant was surprised at the sudden seriousness of her request but since her demonstration, he was feeling more like himself.

“But of course, did you have a location in mind?”

“Laandi has an office put aside for us,” She bowed her head politely, “Thank you for your cooperation.”

She was beginning to get a hang of etiquette, Nako noted, watching as the alien maiden collected her menagerie of an entourage.

-*-

[The following has been transcribed for Lieutenant Commander Tar Nako (01198703) and Miss Jasmine Howe, on behalf of the Esaander corporation. All copies authorised by Esaander Corp under the Corporate licences and contracts act.]

Miss Howe: [Calm/Focused] I know I may not exactly know how your legal system works, but if it is half as complicated as our(Human) own, I figured the best thing for my own peace of mind is to have evidence of our agreements and where I stand when it comes to my rights within the Galactic Council?

LC Nako: [] But of course Miss Howe, the Executive Director and I would only be too happy to facilitate, please, announce your proposals.

Miss Howe: [] Right, for official records: I, Jasmine Anne Howe conduct these discussions on behalf of myself. In no way, am I authorized to conduct any negotiations on behalf of Earth and her Governments. I am not authorized to approve any legislation regarding Trade, Tax, Immigration, Military spending, Technological Exchange, Political agendas or any other such Government matters. I will act as a liaison to the Galactic Council and its organizations until such a time an elected representative is able to take my place.

LC Nako: [] Very well, I understand and accept. You are a maiden of many talents Miss Howe, are oratory lessons apart of a nutritionists training?

Miss Howe: []They are if they’re picked up for a tv series.

LC Nako: [] ah, interesting…

Miss Howe: [] I authorise the use of my genetic makeup and the dogs to help the genetic degradation of the quitellian-

ED Laandi: Qzetillian.

Miss Howe: [] Sorry, to help the genetic degradation of the Qzetillian people.[] I do NOT give the authorisation to create genetic clones of myself or the dogs. I also do not give the authorisation to crossbreed human and canine(dog) DNA of any kind.

ED Laandi: ...

LC Nako: [] … [

] I accept the terms.

Miss Howe: [] Also, I want half all profits derived from my genetic contributions to the GC, not being used for my personal upkeep and personal investment, will be put into a Trust for the development of human and canine kind and to ensure future generations well being.

LC Nako: [] A Trust?

Miss Howe: [] We call it a ‘Trust fund’ an account that cannot be accessed unless certain criteria are met, whether it is the age of the benefactor or only allowing a certain amount to be withdrawn so as not to deplete the fund or loose too much interest.

LC Nako: [Amused] *Chuckles*

ED Laandi: *Chuckles*

LC Nako: [Amused] I'm afraid our economy doesn't work that way, Executive Director, explain it to Miss Howe.

ED Laandi: We don't count wealth as static units, rather as a reward for input provided. The impact you imprint on the economy is calculated and that is your 'contribution'. You are 'credited' with that value and may exchange it for goods and assets of the same value. When you expire the credit expires with you, as you no longer have an impact on the economy.

LC Nako: [] Services are taken care of by the Council greater government, food and lodgings are awarded according to credit score.

Miss Howe: []What if you have no credit score? Or can't make an impact?

ED Laandi: Citizens can acquire credit through more than just physical work. Providing conversation on the Civnet, opinions on council investments, driving consumer fashions, all are assigned a credit score. Investing in other citizens or military units is also an option, instead of upgrading living conditions a citizen can choose to live at a lower grade, freeing up the necessary resources to create a Council Ranger or purchase Arvas units such as the Lieutenant Commander from the Arvas Imperium.

LC Nako:[] But you can rest assured that your contribution credit will be almost infinite, I dare say you might even be able to purchase planets after it's calculated.

Miss Howe:[] Wait, planets? Plural?! That's a possibility??

ED Laandi: It is a possibility, however, I would advise against it unless you were interested in running an entire planets infrastructure and economy. Until you are accredited, The lieutenant commander will be looking after all your expenses.

Miss Howe: [] Damn, I must have cost you a fortune…

LC Nako: [] Do not worry yourself Miss Howe, I consider this a very worthwhile venture indeed, I believe a long and fruitful relationship with the future humanity is a benefit to everyone.

Miss Howe:[] Right, which brings me to my other concern, within my own society, I am an adult with free agency over my own… (What’s the term they use?) Calling. I want to know if such freedoms will still be available to me once I leave this station and join you at the military base.

ED Laandi: ….

LC Nako: []… That is… difficult to answer Miss Howe. [] It is neither I nor Laandi’s decision as to your final designation, I am but a humble soldier and she is but a loyal savant of the Esaander corporation. Ultimately, it will be left to the inner council to decide what category your calling is defined.

ED Laandi: Xant suggested that ‘sub-contractor’ might fall under the desire position, advising the Council on the finer points of humanity’s lost culture. A task I’m sure would be a fulfilling and worthwhile pursuit. Contributing to the overall prosperity of the Galactic Council and beyond.

Jasmine: [] But I would be ‘free’ to do this? I won’t be forced or threatened should I chose not to?

LC Nako:[] If you wish to live out your life as a placated citizen I’m sure the council would be amicable to that as well.

Jasmine: []So, My fate is bound to the whims of the council?

LC Nako: [] That is a blunt way of putting it. The Council is benevolent but must make harsh decisions when forced. From what you have shown me in your own understanding Miss Howe, the governing of several billions of sentience requires a certain level of bureaucracy and nuance. Not something that can be summarised in a single sentence.

Jasmine: [] I see… Thank you, Lieutenant, I just needed your statement for my own records.

LC Nako:[] It is my pleasure Miss Howe, anything to bring you comfort.

ED Laandi: If that is everything then I shall conclude liaisons and have copies presented to both parties post-haste.

Link terminated

-*-

Dr Yusa prepared herself for surgery, sterilising everything twice to be sure and checking the vitals of the translator accordingly. While there was technically plenty of time scheduled for the operation, there was also the distinct pressure to have it installed as quickly as possible. Just as she had everything set up to her liking, her solitude was interrupted.

“DH Dr Xant Authorised Entry” The computer bleated as the doors to the operation room opened. The strange Zenthi and the unorthodox alien maiden entered walking side by side.

“Salutations Dr Yusa,” Xant greeted with bowed head, the human copied his actions, her eyes closing and her presence ebbing respect and politeness.

“Salutations Dr Xant,” Yusa returned the greeting, “Are you early for the scheduled operation, or am I behind schedule?”

“No no, we are indeed early, Jasmine wished to meet you before we began, is your time flexible?”

Yusa’s ears flattened at the request but she stoically nodded.

“My time is my own for now,” she turned to the human “salutations Miss howe, thank you for this morning’s presentation.”

Jasmine bowed her head again with a comforting smile.

“Oh it was my pleasure really, thank you for being a captive audience!” Yusa wrinkled her nose at the expression, as though she had the resistance to be anything but captivated under her Freq influence. “I’d like to ask some questions before the procedure if that's alright?” Jasmine continued, walking over to look at the tools and chemicals laid out on the operation tables.

“If you must, is your species not accustomed to surgery?” Yusa asked.

“Oh, quite the opposite actually, but organ surgery is the most dangerous and… We’re not accustomed to placing genetically engineered alien organs anywhere near our brains.”

She joked looking to Xant, his ears wiggled pleasantly, having found the joke amusing enough, Yusa did not see it that way.

"She is aware the surgery is necessary? Why is she questioning my authority on the matter?" she pointed her questioning to Xant, while Jasmine gave her a disapproving look.

"[]and you're aware I'm still in the room correct?" Jasmine huffed.

Xant stepped between the two to smooth over the conversation.

"Jasmine is very aware of how necessary the surgery is Dr Yusa, but this technology and technique is not known to them. And for future reference, humans prefer to be the authority on their decisions, speaking past her is considered rude."

Yusa's ears twitched back and forth, confused.

“But she is not an authority in the field, how can she make the best decision if she doesn’t have the relevant knowledge?”

Jasmine suddenly laughed, very loudly, startling both Zenthi in the process.

“Jasmine? Did Dr Yusa say something funny?”

“More that I finally figured out why most of your co-workers are so damn arrogant and rude,” she shook her head, a bitter taste in her mouth, “I prefer to exercise my own bodily autonomy thank you very much Dr Yusa. If I am not an authority on a subject then I shall listen and learn until I become and authority. How else am I going to learn about the Galactic Council if everyone keeps making my decisions for me?” Jasmine proclaimed.

The statement voicing a perspective Yusa had never considered, yet it confirmed many of the fears the lieutenant had highlighted to her only [hours] ago. She forced those objections deep down, she was not one to argue with an alien maiden.

“That method seems a little inefficient but very well, what questions do you have about the translator procedure?"

"I suppose it's more about the translator itself… I mean, how does it work and why can't you guys just fix the one I've already got installed?"

"because it isn't made for you? …" Yusa replied already confused "what is your understanding of basic organic-dynamics?"

"I think it's safe to say none, outside of my own basic functions."

Yusa gave an exasperated sigh and looked to Xant, who was beginning to feel more and more like an external translator himself.

"She understands at a creator level but use Modifier terminology, since a lot of our own scientific terms don't translate as smoothly,"

"I will try," Yusa replied and brought up her dataslate for clarification on Modifier terms "what is your question specifically, that will help me to answer."

Jasmine lifted her leg and slid to sit on the edge of the surgical table, close enough to the translator organs she could touch the glass.

"Why doesn't my current translator give me the physical freq feeling?"

"There are two reasons, the first is from the data I've been given your species is technically freq resistant. The receptors and broadcaster organs present in every other species, are not separate entities but specialised nerve cells in your brain cross-woven without a central point. In fact, your brain is the most confusing cluster-mess of nerves I've ever seen in my life, it’s a wonder you don't have permanent jitter-jacker from crossed connections. Secondly, the translator we installed is Zenthi-grade, since Zenthi already have very strong receptor organs there is no need to install them in the translator. We only need to have our Zenthi-frequency or ‘thoughts’ broadcast out into sound since our vocal cords are not capable of complex sounds. It probably would have been better to have an Arvas translator put in place but that would have been more complicated due to biological type compatibility and the price of licencing of the translator."

"That's right, your whole species is psychic right? You speak through thought,(like this?)” Jasmine demonstrated her ‘doublespeak’ ability, putting Yusa even more on edge, “(and the translator is built from your organs?)"

"We speak entirely through 'thought' yes, but unlike your strange brain we only have one thought present.” Yusa clarified, “Having two voices and all the emotional and industrial parts of your brain tangled together is what is giving the translator so much trouble."

"And having these, broadcaster and receiver parts in my head is going to fix all that?" Jasmine asked, staring at the soon to be implanted organs in their glass chambers.

"If I have calculated everything correctly, then yes."

Jasmine sighed, her inner voice mulling over the consequences in silence.

"Alright then, my next question is; how does it work?"

"The translator?" Yusa blinked surprised.

"Yes, where I am from, our translators are text based, but they fail to get context or nuance most of the time. How does an organ work that out?" The human folded her arms and waited for Dr Yusa to reply. Yusa scratched her ear as she deliberated how to explain her work to a non-student of the field, flicking through her dataslate for comparisons, slightly annoyed she had to improves an instructors role.

"Because the translator doesn't translate 'words'. Thought, or zenthi freq, is simply bio-electronic input, the same electricity that makes muscles move and spasm. Bio-electronic patterns that observe the world around it, you call it an organ, I call it a translator but we both understand that we mean the object in the tank. The higher the level of intelligence the more complicated the organic-electricity patterns." She explained the best she could, wondering if the alien could even follow such a concept without any basis in organic-dynamics.

"And the translator sends the signal to my brain and my brain interprets it in the 'words' I have for the pattern?" Jasmine proposed, “So its more translating ideas and abstractions rather than words and language?”

"... Yes, that is correct." Yusa replied actually impressed. Xant chuckled and stood beside Yusa.

"Jasmine has told me that humans like to learn as much as they can and not to be lead down just one master of study," he denoted to the other doctor, Jasmine nodded her head in agreement.

"It certainly helps grasping the out there concepts you keep throwing at me…"

"However,” Yusa put forward, still having more to say on the matter, “There are some problems with your translator I cannot fix." She sighed, "The industrial frequency is too entwined with the rest of your functions to isolate and contain. Unless I physically cut them from the rest, which while not entirely impossible, it isn’t something I would not recommend from the sheer amount we would need to do, you cannot travel through gates without the industrial freq taking precedence like with your recent test."

"So I can't space travel conscious? bugger." Jasmine pouted.

"I would not worry too much Jasmine, travelling between stations and planets isn't a recreational activity. The stress alone is too much for many citizens, there isn't much to see to begin with," Xant shrugged.

"But, I want to see space…" The human whined.

"Travelling at the speeds needed for interstellar travel means you would not 'see' anything anyway… Most ships do not have viewing windows as in Laandi office." Xant rationalised.

"You just don't get it Xant.” Jasmine sulked “Sigh, Dr Yusa, what's the recovery regime like? Will I need to take any drugs to keep the organ working?"

"No, I have designed it specifically to work with your bodies cell structure. It would be as if you always had them… Do human organs routinely 'stop working'?" She asked even more concerned.

"Donor organs, actually, most organs can do, if they’re overworked, poisoned or in the case of a transplant even if they're a match. We’ve got drugs to stop them from failing, but they can still fail on their own without reason in some cases. If it can’t be replaced with a machine and a donor organ is rejected…Then people die..." Jasmine's voice trailed off.

“That sounds horrendous…” Yusa bawked, "Well you have nothing to worry about with us. No chance of ‘organ failure’ or ‘rejection’, I can’t imagine anyone accepting to walk around with such faulty internals and you won’t have any ‘recovery time’ either, you will be as healthy when you wake up as you are now. "

Jasmine gulped, taking one last look at the 'translator', a root system make of veins and flesh, she wasn’t sure how they were going to fit it in her skull. She almost didn’t want to know.

"One last thing Dr Yusa…"

"Yes?"

"Can you make sure you use the strongest anesthesia you have? I really don't want to be waking up halfway through surgery…" The human's voice grew soft.

"But it would be much quicker and easier to do the procedure while conscious-"

"Out of the question," Xant interrupted, stepping in to enforce Jasmine's unorthodox request, "It would be best for all parties involved for Jasmine to be unconscious."

"As you suggest doctor, is that everything Miss Howe?"

Jasmine closed her eyes, swinging her body back to lie down on the table and stared up at the white sterile walls.

"Better knock me out before I start second-guessing this." She stated doing her best to not think about the ‘worst-case scenario’. Xant went over to Jasmine's side and held the human's hand.

"Don't worry, I'll be here for the whole thing," he comforted. Jasmine smiled weakly and squeezed his hand.

"Thank you,"

Xant turned to Dr Yusa, still holding the human's hand.

“I am trained in Chems if it is not too much trouble I would like to administer the anesthesia. Yusa shrugged and offered him the pale blue liquid and syringe. Xant measured out enough to knock out a human, as per his best estimate and readied it to Jasmine's vein. She winced and hissed as the fine needle entered her skin, before talking to the ceiling to calm herself.

"You know, back on Earth, they get you to count back from ten-" Jasmines eyes rolled into the back of her head, her jaw slacked open and her body went limp.

"Well that was rather effective," Yusa commented as the rest of the surgical team walked in.

"For now, but it filters through her system very quickly, we will need to keep administering anesthesia into her system until the translator is installed," Xant commented, letting go of jasmines hand to take his place for observation, out of the way of the surgical team.

"The procedure shouldn't take more than an hour or two, with your surgeon’s help, he did a perfect installation of the first translator." Yusa mentioned.

“Despite his temperament, Dr Krydons is a very experienced surgeon,” Xant concurred, as he stood back and watched them work, keeping an eye on Jasmine's status for the whole procedure.