Pay it no mind, my occupation revolves around conversation, and seeing as you are the newest member of our galactic community, I would consider it somewhat appropriate for an ambassador to get a sense of our new neighbors.

I am aware that the Eldomini are a fairly open species, but there are times when the best way to get a sense of someone is to talk to them.

Perhaps even moreso, were I to be honest. There is much you can tell of a person from how they talk of others, and humans just so happen to be one of those species that seems to bring about the most in all the people I've spoken to.

I cannot blame them really, it really was quite the shocking event when they ended their isolation.

That is because it is. It came at little surprise to me, for reasons I am sure you already know.

Correct, which I suppose is the reason I took my position as Nereid Ambassador in the first place. There is a certain connection I feel amongst their people, it almost feels like home really.

On the diplomatic scale, yes, though according to our Accords we are supposed to have a largely neutral standing with all galactic powers.

Perhaps it is, and had we not pushed for neutrality after the Second Galactic Civil War we may still be under the dominion of the Empire.

Oh they didn't want to agree, really, but when you have the recently victorious Humans backing you that tends to give you a certain amount of leverage in negotiations.

You say inviting, but a number of my kind tend to think the way that the Coalition runs things to be quite... suffocating at times.

The Coalition tends to get a bit... let us say clingy with their ideals and people. They may not subjugate you by force much like the Empire will, but their incessant nagging to do things one way only has put off a number of my species from considering a full fledged alliance with them.

Yes, we Nereid don't like to be shackled to one place for too long. It is perhaps the sole reason that instead of establishing some sort of widespread, stable power, we are instead inclined to travel throughout the Galaxy. You can see the advantage that neutrality has for this, correct?

The idea sounds appealing, but when they have dominion of nearly the entirety of the galaxy, neutrality does not seem like much of a feasible option. Granted, we were on the fringes of Empire space, near the Poros Systems, which meant that we were often left alone, but traveling to other parts of Empire space usually meant that we would be placed under strict monitoring. It constricted us, you see, like caged birds. A rather large cage, but one that held no true freedom in the end.

And that is precisely why we chose not to deal with them. It would be a deal without our involvement, like we were mere goods. And if you believe the Thulu would have negotiated our independence without any strings attached then you truly would be naive. My people have dealt with the Thulu before, and while they were polite, you could tell they always tried to get some sort of angle, some sort of leverage against us. Of course, there was always the mind reading aspect to it, but my species has never really encountered a problem with that.

The difference, I suppose, was that they supported us merely for the sake of doing so.

It was not the Humans that approached us with talks of neutrality, but rather, we approached the Humans first. Shortly after the Treaty of Itraxy, there was a noticeable uncertainty to the Galaxy. A wake had been left in the fracturing of the Empire, and while it was destined to be filled quickly, we saw our opportunity in the small window available. So my people reached out to me, who was already living amongst the Humans, and asked me to arrange a meeting to establish a set of agreements that would allow the Nereids to freely travel throughout the Galaxy.

Consider the political climate at the time, Chronicler. The Empire had just lost a vast section of their territory and were in the process of paying off the reparation owed to the Coalition and rebuilding their shattered infrastructure at the hands of the humans. The Coalition, on the other hand, was in the midst of developing and setting up their new government and society, determining what of the Empire they wished to keep, and what they wished to remove. The Thulu in the Poros Systems were of course in the middle of everything, snaking their tentacles wherever they could to make some sort of profit. The humans? Well they merely stuck around after the war to ensure there was no further escalation. Now, what do you suppose the independence of a small planet, off in the fringes of Empire space, meant in the scheme of all these things?

And you would be correct in your assessment. No one cared of the Nereid during such tumultuous times, and that was exactly what we wanted. Of course, we were at first worried the humans would be of the same mind as the Empire and Coalition, but they responded quickly to my requests. I knew they would, of course, as my time around them has made me realize that human culture has a very large investment in one's own independence. To hear of such a desire from another species most likely triggered a sense of empathy among their leaders, and, given that the majority of the human action during the Reconstruction was merely grandstanding and maintaining a presence, many of their diplomats jumped at the chance to negotiate the terms of our independence.

Now consider humanity's position in all of this. They had not only defeated the Empire in a display of force that, to this day, goes unmatched, but in doing so they had allowed the Coalition to rally itself back together and form its own independent power. The Treaty of Itraxy, as well, had established a reputation of level-headedness for the humans. Combine all of these factors, and you have yourself a body of power that can negotiate from the highest position. The Coalition could not disagree with the humans because they were indebted to them, meaning they could not draw us into their body of power. The Empire, on the other hand, were still wary of the humans due to their recent defeat, and as such would be unwilling to cause any provocations should it result in another conflict. I have heard that their new Empress is a more rational sort, which would explain why negotiations were opened in the first place.

Yes. Many of us had believed it to be too good of a situation, that somewhere during the negotiations something would fall apart, or that the humans would realize their position and somehow tie us to them somehow. But, there were two factors that worked to our advantage during the time.

First, was that our capabilities were large unknown to most of the Galaxy at the time.

Perhaps now, but at that time we were fairly isolated even if we were part of the Empire at the time. Having a home planet that is almost entirely underwater does help to hide things somewhat as well, and our proximity to the Poros System always allowed us a certain amount of protection due to the fact that the Empire was extra wary at the time. So long as we remained on planet we could developed technologies exclusive to us, hidden under the veil of the ocean.

Indeed it was. We did not want to reveal our capabilities because we knew the Empire would then only further monitor us, pressure us into further involving ourselves with their power, under their rule, but at the same time being confined to our home planet, already fully explored and exploited as much as it could be, meant that our natural tendencies to wander were being inhibited at the time. On our planet we were free to do as we pleased, but at the same time we were also caged.

That one is fairly simple, it was that the humans did not seem to care of our capabilities.

You can imagine that for one such as I, the lone Nereid that lived amongst humans, that there would be a number of observations that humanity would notice about my species, especially their governments. They never directly examined me, as I refused to be put under a scope, but they were observative enough to have an understanding of what my species was capable of as I lived among them. But, that did not seem to matter when the negotiations of the Accords started, as they made no pushes to tie us to them via obligation. In fact, it may have made them extra sure that we remained a truly neutral power, as they new the implications of any one faction keeping control of our abilities.

Yes, at that time we were a small race on a planet that was neither strategically nor culturally significant. The Empire of course put on a political show of resistance, for the sake of their press, but during the actual negotiations they were for the most part agreeable. The Coalition was the same, mournful of the fact that we would not join them, but very much excited by the prospect of another species leaving the Empire's control. The Thulu... well they did not seem to care much either way, and had only sent a representative just so they could be considered a part of the Accords.

The term you are looking for is meddling, Chronicler, but I must admit I was surprised as well. Perhaps even more than the humans, the Thulu were more aware of our capabilities than anyone else.

Yes, the Poros Systems were an outlet of sorts for my people, as you can imagine. A place where there was no Empire influence, somewhere we could travel around and explore to our heart's content, giant-mind reading cephalopods notwithstanding of course. Not many of us left at any one time, however, since it would draw too much Empire attention, but those that were lucky enough to often came back with stories of the outside worlds.

Yes we do. It is not quite the same nowadays, as many of my kind have set up homes away from the homeworld, but at the time it was crucial to keeping us updated on the state of the the galaxy around us. But enough about that, we were speaking of the Accords, yes?

[Laughs] Do not worry about it, I suppose I should have expected us to get off track, given your kind's inquisitive nature.

Well I find it a refreshing trait, it is not often you will get a question for the sake of the person merely wanting to know the answer, rather than any other ulterior motives.

Many times, in fact I'd say they are the masters of it. If a human asks a question, often times they will pretty much know the answer before hand. It is the reaction they are looking for. If the person lies, the tone, body language. Perhaps this is not true to the members of their species that are not in positions of negotiation, but this tactic was particularly popular in the negotiation of the Accords to get a sense of what was tolerable for each galactic power to agree too. In the end, the Nereid Neutrality Accords were fully ratified on July 10th, 2392, if I were to use human time. It was nearly a year after the Treaty of Itraxy, and only took about a week to figure out the details.

It would be, but I am willing to list out the major points of the Accords if you need me to.

The Nereid, along with their homeworld of Agea, shall be recognized as an independent, sovereign power. The Nereid will be allowed to travel across all regions of the galaxy, so long as they adhere to the laws of each region. Aggression against the Nereid homeworld of Agea will be met by retaliatory force from the members of the Accords that did not violate the non aggression clause. Nereid members are not allowed to be involved in any of the galactic power's politics unless they relinquish their Agean citizenship and become members of said galactic power.

It was by the human's suggestion, actually.

That point in particular was considered the most important by the humans. They never wished to enforce that particular clause, of course, as it would drag the powers into another unnecessary war, but they placed it in there to act as a deterrent to any of the powers that did wish act and attack us. The time was coming when the galaxy would know of our true capabilities, and this was perhaps a deterrent from any of the powers to quickly snatch us up.

The fourth point came about for reasons you just described. It kept our political power limited in that aspect, but left us free to travel where we wanted to.

What you are missing, however, was at this time the animosity between the Coalition and Empire was far greater than anything the Empire had felt for the UPN. Yes, the Empire had suffered defeat at the hands of the UPN, but the Coalition had, in their eyes, ridden on the human's coattails and snatched away a large section of their territory. The acknowledged the humans had earned their victory, but the Coalition was, and still is, largely seen as illegitimate in the eyes of the Empire and its citizens. With the humans there will always be wariness, but along with that was a certain measure of respect, that was not the case with the Coalition. If they had to ally with the UPN to crush them, then so be it.

I do not think they would be willing to either, but again, consider the situation surrounding this clause. The humans had shown just how much power was at their disposal in the war just a year ago, and their charge through Empire space was fresh in all of the Coalition's minds. They did not know as much about the humans at that time, but what they did know was that they possessed the force to back up their words. Of course, the Empire was the primary concern here, as they, out of the four powers involved in the accords, were and still are the most likely to violate it, but the humans had included all the powers under such terms to not only avoid singling the Empire out, causing more tension to rise, but to put the other powers on notice. It was a deterrent of conflict.

The representative from the Poros Systems did not say much, but he was in agreement with the humans when the clause was proposed. Whether or not the Thulu would participate in its execution was another matter entirely, but they seemed to sense the human's intentions at the time. Times have changed since, of course, and perhaps things would play out much differently today than they would in the past should the Accords be violated, but it had been customary to leave us alone long enough to where it is more of an organic action rather than one that is tied up in politics. Maybe that was the point behind such a clause, to keep people backed off long enough to where our behavior would be considered normalized by the time it became irrelevant.

It is entirely possible that you are correct, but at the time I am inclined to agree with the human's methods in this case if not for the fact that our abilities were found out soon after the Accords were put into effect.

It was. I wasn't in agreement with it. I was more inclined to let the Empire and Coalition figure it out more organically, but a number of our Matron's believed that it would be best for us to get everything out into the open, to come out of hiding as our true selves.

Have you? I always thought it a bit gaudy, but we had some fun putting the event together. I would say the reveal of the children was probably the best part of that day. Of course, it came as a shock to a large part of the Galaxy, to not only find out that what they assumed to be a fairly harmless species were not only a group of psionics, but a species also capable of reproducing with a majority of the galaxy.