The stars returned to normal as Pelsiar dropped his capsule out of Ripple-space. As the Primary System Research Agent for Sector MWVAE, he was responsible for investigating oddities. As his display flashed with a notification about a space-time matrix being detected within an isolated System, he paused in the contraction of his lesser grasping tentacles to look over. He considered the notification for several seconds before initiating a call with his 'partner' Trokk Elnite.

"What do you want, Pelsiar?" The male voice on the other end of the connection said coolly as his image snapped into place.

"I've found something," Pelsiar replied, glad that he no longer struggled to repress his revulsion at the flapping lips of the elvenoid. He'd truly become a more tolerant being.

"Wonderful," Trokk replied, his bulbous eyes rolling as he crinkled his soft face at Pelsiar. "What is it?"

Pelsiar undulated his grasping tentacles for a second before shaking his abdomen. "The System has flagged a possible Black in system MWVAE-22. A space-time matrix," he reported while sending the relevant files to his partner.

"That's a Dark system, and the residents are classified as mortal tier. How did they develop a Black level space-time matrix?" Trokk asked, though Pelsiar was familiar enough with the fool to know he wasn't actually talking to him.

"Shall I track them down?" Pelsiar asked, knowing that Trokk preferred to handle trouble like this himself. Even if he had to come across the sector.

"That... that might be best," Trokk replied, setting Pelsiar momentarily off balance.

"Shame. I was about to stop by MWVAE-20. I was hoping to recruit some of the locals," Pelsiar said. While he really had been planning to stop by MWVAE-20, it had been because his personal scans had revealed the presence of Phothens in the system. That Trokk had a biological preference for the natives was simply a fact he hoped to exploit.

"I... it's probably not an emergency," Trokk said, his eyes lighting up as he looked at something Pelsiar couldn't see.

"Still, a space-time matrix might well escape. It is best that I go immediately," Pelsiar said with a vibration of his body that he knew Trokk would interpret as one of the elvenoid's sighs.

"Hold on a second," Trokk interrupted, holding one hand towards the screen while tapping away with the other. If Pelsiar had the same bulbous eyes instead of his faceted perfection, he would have rolled them at Trokk's predictable response. "Okay, I've instructed the System to initiate procedure Spatial VEX-332. That should give you some time. Hate for you to waste the trip."

"Hmm. Excellent idea," Pelsiar said, playing to the elvenoid's ego. "I'm sure my new assistants will be most useful."

"Don't take too long, getting those assistants," Trokk said, his eyes narrowing in that way he did when he suspected Pelsiar of being less than truthful.

"Of course not. The System will have already prepared a proper selection of assistants. Though if you have any recommendations, I'm sure I could accommodate you," Pelsiar said, keeping his upper graspers moving in the way he had trained Trokk to think meant he was nervous.

Trokk just nodded before ending the call. But a few seconds later, a few... less than scientifically relevant preferences populated Pelsiar's data for the assistants.

As he rubbed his graspers together, Pelsiar extended his eyestalk, and read over the non-System alert he'd received that caused him to drop out of ripple-space in the first place.

It seemed the Phothen were letting their Worldships get awfully close to System space.

He couldn't wait to 'recruit' one for study.