Dr. Uru’Nav Xant tapped the dataslate, ending the recording program before readying to start another session.

“It’s good to hear your voice, Dr. Xant.” His subject expressed her desire for conversation. She sat across the interview table from him, five fingered hands folded neatly on the surface in a manner that reminded him of a politician or Director of Management. He didn’t hold that against her, however. First Contact protocols often required a bit of decorum, especially in such unusual circumstances.

“As it is good to hear your proper cadence, Jasmine.” The doctor concurred, nodding his elongated snout ever so slightly, ear stalks bobbing in time. For the past [week] since her arrival on Uleesia Station, the human Jasmine Anne Howe, had been a constant barrage of surprises. Communication with the newly discovered sentient had been entirely through pictographs and inadequate translators, the chance to sit down and have a proper discussion with an educated specimen was a once in a Dynasty discovery.

He retrieved from his jacket a second dataslate, placing it upon the table and activated it for the human. Her eyes lit up with recognition of the device.

“Are you ready to continue the interview?” Dr. Xant queried.

“Oh? Yes.” She nodded her head in turn, sitting up straight in response. The doctor activated his recording program and began his first research interview.

Research Transcripts of Dr. Xant: Biology I

[These transcripts are for research purposes only, any opinions expressed therein are not wholly representative of species, governments, organisations or conglomerates mentioned. The release of these documents have been authorised by Executive Director Salhor Laandi]

[Note: I retrieved the Dataslate I had given Subject Jasmine on a previous session. The session in question now lives on in infamy on the station as the day we tested the memory capacity of Amaecom Standard Dataslates. Subject Jasmine presented us with a collection of 7,000 images. The simple illustration program was supposed to test cognitive function, it ended up being the perfect tool in the reveal of the newest Creator species.]

Dr Xant: We should start off in a Subject were both comfortable in.

[Note: I presented the dataslate to the Subject, and brought up the diagram she had drawn of the human body, her depiction was as accurate as one would expect considering Subject’s skin is almost completely opaque.]

Subject: Biology, right, should be straightforward.

Dr Xant: Indeed, where possible I will be divulging Council Space equivalents, we will start at the top and work our way down.

Subject: Okay well, first we have the brain.

[Note: Subject uses the dataslate with uncanny ease, similar technology must exist within Subject’s own homeworld. Subject selects the diagram of the cranial mass.]

Subject: The brain is the most important organ, according to the brain. (heh bad joke) Umm, it has two hemispheres, a core and the stem. Hemispheres divide personality, cognitive functions, speech, and umm… Full disclosure Dr. Xant, I’ll try to be as accurate as I can but it is entirely possible I won’t be able to give a completely comprehensive guide to the human body, I only really think of my organs’ responsibility when something stops working.

Dr Xant: As I have said time and time again Jasmine, any information you provide is invaluable, even what you admit in ignorance.

Subject: Okay, umm, where was I? Okay, the core, I think that's where all the emotions are, where we have our fear responses and long term memory, I know the stem holds all the body functions I’m not actually conscious of, regulating temperature, breathing, muscle tension.

[Note: I brought up an internal organ diagram of the four Creator races on my own dataslate, showing it to the Subject.]

Dr Xant: I believe the most striking difference between your brain and the others is the substantial calcium casing, Sulin have cartilage skull plates, and the Arvas exoskeleton is a barrier but Zenthi and Qzetillian hold no such barriers, allowing our brains to grow continuously.

Subject: So (asshole) Qzetillians have big (ugly) grey heads because their brains don’t stop growing?

[Note: Subject was discovered along with 15 other species upon a raided Rajava Qzetillian ship, prejudice while understandable is reserved for Original Strain Qzetillia, Subject holds no such convictions towards Executive Director Salhor Laandi or any of the qualified Repaired Strain Qzetillia staff members aboard Uleesia]

Dr Xant: That is one way of putting it yes-

Subject: But what about you? Your head is, well, comparatively smaller than everyone else's…

Dr Xant: That is because Zenthi brains grows along the spine, down the back and in the case of the elderly, into our tails.

Subject: So instead of folding into a ball connected to a cord of nerves, it just trails down your body?  What happens if  you're hit in the back? Or its severed by a segmenter sword?

Dr Xant: Damage occurs of course, some of it can be repaired but it mostly stops the growth and development of the Zenthi in question.

Subject: I suppose ‘backstabbing’ would be the ultimate insult to your people?.

Dr Xant: Yes, so please don’t use the term so lightly.

Subject: Sorry, it’s not a term humans use lightly either.

[Note: I reached over to change the dataslate to the next diagram]

Dr Xant: Next, ocular preceptors.

Subject: Right, eyes, you got the white part, the iris, lense, fluid, the part at the back is the retina that has the cones and rods and connects to the nerve system...

Dr Xant: And how far in the spectrum can you register?

Subject: Uhhh? (where to start?) I know we can’t see infrared, or UV without equipment, and we also pretty terrible night vision, we can see about [three to five kilometers] before things get fuzzy and can see millions of different colours.

Dr Xant: I’m sorry, but, did you say millions of colours?

Subject: Yes, our eyes are unique in that we can perceive subtle colour changes, like, your skin Doctor (Xant), from afar it looks solid black, but close up there’s several patches of freckles and a gradient going to dark grey and blue.

[Note: Zenthi skin patterns are varied from one another, but thought only visible to those in the UV spectrum, will investigate into Subject’s sight further.]

Dr Xant: Curious, you can see the differentiating patterns even without ultraviolet sensitivity.

Subject: Well faintly, I'm guessing you can see UV then?

Dr Xant: That is a correct assumption, UV vision is Council standard, the Arvas can see the full spectrum, a set of eyes for a different wavelength-

Subject: Yeah, red, green and blue!

Dr Xant: Would you care to explain further Jasmine?

Subject: Oh, (shit) uhh, red green and blue are the colours of Dr. Isk’s eyes, [Subject indicates the three sets of eyes on the Arvas diagram] and old television sets used to display video. We use liquid crystal now, or something. (<Embarrassment>) It's just a familiar sight I guess.

Dr Xant: I see. Scent and sound receptors we can test in another session, I shall have the lab team set us up a room.

Subject: What about taste?

Dr Xant: Ah, yes, I'm afraid taste isn't a commutative sense, so we don't have a point of reference for it.

Subject: Oh, fair enough. (<Disappointment>)

Dr Xant: Shall we continue?

Subject: Sure, what's next?

Dr Xant: Respiratory organs and circulatory systems have already been documented on your initial scans when being admitted to the facility, as has your digestive tract, else we wouldn't have had any idea what to feed you.

Subject: If you had the scans, why do you need me to explain them?

Dr Xant: I am a xenobiologist first and foremost, I enjoy the discussion, it is refreshing to receive concise answers to questions, User and Modifier races aren't as forthcoming.

Subject: Dr. Xant I've been meaning to ask you about that… You called me a Creator race? Wouldn't I be a fledgling race? Since we (humans) haven’t discovered FTL yet?

Dr Xant: Forgive me Jasmine, Creator, Modifier and User are Intelligence and Frequency classifications. Users are able to grasp the functions of advanced technology, Modifiers are able to, by name, modify existing tech to suit their needs, and Creators, create the technology. Those that do not fit those categories are classified as fauna.

Subject: And you think (I'm) humans are of Creator level?

Dr Xant: Jasmine, in the time you've been at the facility you've done nothing but strive to prove your intelligence and sentience. The least I can do is respect that intelligence.

Subject: (<Shock, relief, touched>) Xant, (Dr. Xant) I mean Dr.-

Dr Xant: Xant is fine, your speech flows better when you're not worried about addressing formalities

Subject: (<Relief, acceptance>) (Don't cry, don’t cry) Xant.. I… [deep breath](<Calming>) Thank you..

Dr Xant: You've become distressed. We can continue this at a later date.

[Session Ended]