"Old ones? No, my species is called human. We might look like other species that you know, but we came here through an anomaly from the far reaches of the universe.
The tall ones with us are the Hunters, who also hail from the same region of space as our people and have come to prevent the species on this side of the anomaly from invading us." Max explained.
"You can read minds? Wait, did I say that out loud? I don't even know anymore."
The Envoy was in the middle of a mental breakdown, so Max flexed his abilities in a way that he very rarely used to implant calm feelings into her mind until she got herself together again.
With luck, she would never know that it was even possible for him to influence thoughts or directly talk to others in their minds since it was mentally draining for him unless he was talking with the Illithid, who naturally communicated both ways.
As she calmed, the Envoy looked around the luxury interior of the shuttle in confusion. This was far different than anything that she had expected, and there was a small woman bringing a tray of what looked like snacks and drinks.
Nico had programmed in some of the foods that they had found on the other world containing this species and made a snack platter for their guest. It was the bare minimum of hospitality for an Envoy, but the alien didn't trust them at all.
Max sighed as she stared at the plate in front of her, and Nico waited impatiently for her opinion on the newly created snacks.
"I suppose I should start at the beginning. As the elected Envoy of your people, you are currently the highest authority on the planet when it comes to dealings between our species.
We're not going to harm you. This is just a cordial meeting between politicians. The snacks are not poison, and they have been tailored to your tastes based on the food preferences of others of your species that we have met."
Now, she looked even more shocked than when she had thought that he was an extinct species.
She slowly reached for the snacks and popped one in her mouth with a look of terror. Then it faded to shock, then happiness, before she slowly began to chew and make happy noises.
"I think she likes it." Max teased Nico while the Envoy was too engrossed in the food to say anything.
She nodded excitedly but didn't speak until she had finished with the bite-sized snack.
"We've been on recombined rations for all my life. I have never tasted anything like that." She explained.
"Do you not have Replicator technology? Most species that we have come across have some version of it." Max asked.
"Oh, you mean the Recombination Processors? Yes, they can make rations out of anything, but that is all they make." She offered, not quite understanding the question.
Max probed her thoughts on the matter and realized what the issue was. They were a template-based device, and only one template existed. The one for a generic ration pack. It was high in nutrients but completely void of taste, and without large fields to create varied foods, that was all that the locals ever ate.
"Ah, I see the issue now. We have a very different version of the technology, and we can program new things into it. Eat all you like. We can make more whenever the plate is empty.
Tell us if there are any that didn't turn out to your tastes, as we only have limited information from one other colony and none from the people of this planet."
The drone outside could hear him but couldn't see his face, so they knew what was going on but not what humans looked like. Other than the fact that they could be mistaken for the Old Ones.
Max couldn't tell by the thoughts of the military officers in the city whether that meant humans or the Darklings, which could be mistaken for humans with longer ears if you weren't really familiar with either species.
If you were, it was quite clear that they were different species, and internally, they were even more distinct, but in a situation like this, all most people would have to go by was outward appearance.
"What did you come here for? Other than to slaughter the mad ones?" The Envoy asked after finishing a few more of the snacks Nico had prepared.
"Mostly, we came to see whether the people and the conflict here would be a threat to us. There was a battle between the Myceloids, the ones you call the Mad Ones, and your people in space above the planet, and it caught our attention.
Your people seem to be defending their homeworld, and we didn't find any signs of other species living here, so we saw no reason not to see if you were interested in peaceful coexistence." Max explained.
From outside, a speaker on the drone asked its first question of the day.
"What exactly does that mean?"
Max raised his voice to call out to the drone. "It means that we intend to leave without bothering your people. We might be able to arrange to trade you a few useful items before we go, but we won't be helping your enemies.
Both species enjoy a good fight too much to be allies in the long term, so we have decided to treat them both as Game Species in the future."
There was a pause before the voice from the drone came again.
"You have the technology to make better food. Would you be willing to share that with us? The morale of our troops could benefit from the variety." The voice asked hopefully, and then there was a thumping sound before another voice took over.
The first had been a drone operator. The new one was his superior, a bureaucrat chosen for his ability to suck up to those in power.
"If you could provide us with some samples of the weapons that you used against the Mad Ones, we would be grateful." The new voice insisted.
Max shook his head and then winked at the Envoy. "I'm afraid that we're not at the point of trading military technology. But if you want a portable sample of the food creation technology, I think that we can spare one for you. I will have a team member put it in the pod to go back to your station after the meeting."
Max sensed the bureaucrat's annoyance and the open hatred he held for the drone operator who had been the first to make contact.
"Any help that you are willing to provide is very welcome." He replied in a measured tone that Max recognized as carefully calculated to not cause offence to anyone.
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