Science

§ 2025-09-14 01:58:00

[02:01] Edaaj's wandering had not had any destination in particular, nor had it yielded anything else for her to focus her attention on. Therefore, when 'sha caught up with her, he found her apparently trying, and abjectly failing, to be engrossed in the examination of an unremarkable section of wall.

[02:04] She did not turn her gaze away, but mumbled as he approached, "<Well, there are always things to learn in the world.>"

[02:10] 'sha sat down beside her, for a while simply quiet, subduing his frustration. He had certainly expected the humans to be stupid about this exchange, but he hadn't expected them to cut things off that abruptly after agreeing to wait until the morning. While he couldn't feel Edaaj's pain empathetically, he was immersed in the situation enough to feel agitation on her behalf. "<I'm sorry that didn't work out,>" he said, gently.

[02:24] "<No doubt they are not comfortable here,>" Edaaj replied woodenly. "<I cannot expect them to overcome that for the sake of satisfying my curiosity – other reasons for convincing them to stay notwithstanding.>" She paused, then added, "<But thank you.>"

[02:35] Pulling her gaze away from its contemplation of the wall, she turned to him and said, "<Do you think it likely that I would ever learn enough to be useful here to you? Not that curiosity is likely to cease being a motivation... but I am a Builder – or was. Being able to carry on something of that purpose would be... satisfying.>" Despite the show of understanding regarding the situation with the humans, the hint of forlornness in her expression suggested that her question was as much a grasping for hope as a request for information.

[02:48] "<I don't know,>" Valcen-sha answered honestly. "<But whenever I have the time, I'll try to set you up for it,>" he promised. He brought his muzzle over to her and gave her shoulder an encouraging nudge. "<And you definitely don't need the humans to learn.>" He glanced over to where they had left, lingering on the empty space. "<Though I admit I'm worried about them.>" In more ways than one.