"I trust you enjoyed the tour of the past?" Nena asked on behalf of her group of representatives, while the tech-savvy Innu quietly bombarded Nico with questions.

"It was incredibly enlightening, and I can see why so many species have abandoned large-scale conflict as their technology advanced. I have the feeling that humanity will soon be at that breaking point. Not because of enlightenment, but because we are developing weapons so powerful that the thought of war would become unthinkable, due to the consequences." Max told her.

"I will admit, that it is not the usual path to enlightenment, but we will be watching for your progress in the future. We do have one item that we can share with you, that is deemed permissible to every species that has the capability.

That is our basic hyperspeed communications technology. It is already built into Terminus, though the colonists removed the transmission terminals when they left. We will reactivate the functions for you, and provide the schematics to add the technology to all of your vessels capable of faster than warp 10 travel.

By our standards, they should be on any vessel holding more than one hundred thousand, for safety, as well as all high-speed vessels which may require safe communications. Think of it like a combination of your Faster than light broadcasts, combined with an emergency transponder. If you activate the transponder, it lets others of the more evolved species know that you are in danger, so they can send a rescue attempt to your location.

That is intended for emergencies only, of course, and you will be expected to respond to such messages in return, should another equipped vessel broadcast in your vicinity." Nena of the Valkia informed Max.

That was a fair deal of responsibility, though they answered emergency transponders anyhow, and the actual communications features were something that they desperately needed for the Cutters.

"I thank you for your generous gift. We are always happy to help those in trouble." Max thanked the Valkia as Nico finished her conversation with the Innu about some sort of optical technology that Max didn't understand.

"The full scans of Terminus and the vessels aboard her are finished now, and we have received a gift from your Admiral. Something about food is integral to human culture?" Nena asked Max curiously.

"It is tradition to feed guests. Now, technically you did come to visit us, despite Terminus being aboard your vessel, so he most likely had an assortment of foods from the various cultures aboard the ship sent to your guards. Feel free to scan them for your records, or eat them if they're compatible with your digestive systems." Max replied, and Theta looked exceptionally excited.

Max assumed that the metallic organism could eat almost anything, though that could just be biased based on slime-type opponents in video games, at the very least the Admiral's thoughtful gift wouldn't be wasted.

The Museum aboard this vessel was dozens of kilometers across from what Max could see, and they were only allowed in a small portion of it, so there should be a space somewhere for their interaction with humans.

The portal pad took them back to the meeting room, and after pleasantries were exchanged, Max led Nico and the honor guard back to the ship.

The Innu had thoughts of Warp Drive modifications running through their minds, based on the brute force method that the human ships used to achieve high speeds, but linked with the advanced technology that they used to do it even more smoothly, while Nico's mind was full of thoughts of how she could modify herself now that she had made such a great trade with Theta.

[Terminus, prepare to depart.] The message from the alien World Ship reminded them once Max and the team were safely back on board.

Their method of bringing ships in by gravity field was ingenious, though it relied on the unique barrier that normalized outside hull temperatures for the safety of the crew. That might be something that they could replicate in the near future, or it might even be a feature of Terminus that they hadn't decoded yet. It had both the barriers on the bay doors and the capability of a precision gravity field after all.

"So, how did you make out?" Max asked Nico once they were away from the alien vessel.

"Incredibly well. A lot of this will have to go to Uncle Lu and other specialists, but some of it I can start using right away. For example, the healing function of the next generation of replicators. I can update the ones in our medical bays to create genetically compatible replacement organs and limbs, which the current generation can't do, and in seconds not weeks, like the current Kepler technology takes for a perfect replacement." Nico informed him.

That would be a huge feature for their crew and guests. No more unfortunate souls like Dave left crippled.

Max would have included Nico in that sentiment, but she actually seemed happier this way and was clearly enjoying the challenge of making herself into a new species, which she had just gained a huge amount of data about.

"Anything else that we can implement right away, other than the medical bay improvements and communications systems?" Max asked.

"Well, there is one small thing that I managed to pick out during my discussions with the crew of the Corvus. I know how their portals work." Nico responded with a smile.

How she had kept that thought to herself was a mystery to Max, so he probed into her mind a bit more deeply to find the trick. Only, it wasn't a trick at all, it was a System Function that allowed her to compartmentalize thoughts so that they weren't in the surface layer that was easily read by Max and species like the Valkia.

She had been hiding it for quite a while, but Max could see that she hadn't actually used it much, only a handful of times when she wanted to surprise him in particular, knowing that he could read her mind.