Day 55: Cafeteria

[mustbethesuit]

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[emotionl4arobot]

The word 'stuck' seemed to hold a particular emphasis to Aximili, and Brainiac 5 felt an odd pang of sympathy for him there. He'd felt much the same way initially; trapped in an organic body that, while something he'd always wondered about, had been thrust upon him with little warning or consideration for his own comfort. He imagined being a shapeshifter that was incapable of change would be equally disconcerting.

His smile widened at the comment about the sounds mouths could make, choosing not to pass judgement there, since while it was unusual, he couldn't see what harm would come from it. People hadn't targeted him for not being human, after all, with the worst he'd gotten in regard to that being some disbelief. He didn't see why the Andalite should be too worried about blending in there.

Instead he focussed on the question asked. "In a way," he began. "Generally speaking, Coluans don't feel emotions. My people like to think they eradicated such so-called pointless things some years ago, relying instead on pure logical thought and reason. I, however, disagree with my people's chosen path. Where they seek to move away from the organic world Coluans used to be a part of, I seek to understand it, maybe even be a part of it. For that reason, I created many complicated programs and subroutines that were designed to mimic human emotions."

He smiled wryly. "But this experience has taught me that I may need to make some adjustments to my programs, assuming I ever find myself back to being Coluan again."

[moarnomsplz]

"It is not entirely, lee, different for us," Ax said. He paused for a moment, to concentrate on looking behind himself without falling over, making certain no one would overhear him. Despite what Brainiac 5 had said about the different worlds people came from, Ax did not want to broadcast his species and take the chance that Yeerks were unknown in all of those worlds, or that none had been brought here.

Satisfied that no one was paying undue attention to them, he went on. "We Andalites are inherently optimistic. Miss-tick. And we are peaceful in our hearts, but we have been at war for longer than I have been alive." His expression darkened briefly at that. The war would never be a comfortable topic. "We have had to learn to temper these qualities with logic and pragmatism. Ma-tizz-um. I believe we have done this admirably, but the necessity is... regrettable."

His sense of kinship with the Coluan was growing stronger, and Ax returned the smile. "I also have been trying-ing to study and understand humans. They are so backwards in some ways, and so surprize, prize-ing-lee, advanced and complicated in others. They are not a species one should underestimate."

[emotionl4arobot]

For an 'inherently optimistic' species, Aximili seemed surprisingly paranoid. However, the mention of war was likely the explanation for that. While the Legion had never really been involved in anything of the sort, the conflict with Imperiex had come close and the following battle with Brainiac 1...

He ended that thought abruptly.

Regardless, the point was that he supposed there was reason for the Andalite to be paranoid, and he'd be certain to keep that detail in mind for future exchanges. While he doubted it would really matter much in the long run, he found he didn't want to potentially upset Aximili either.

"Agreed," he said, smile strengthening in regards to their shared views on this topic. "In comparison to my people, humanity isn't especially advanced, yet they have such a... range of abilities and complexities, I think they likely would surpass even Coluans given time."

Of course, it didn't help that his people tended to be suspicious of advancements they didn't like as well. Humanity was at least willing to try things more freely.

[moarnomsplz]

"I have found the same to be true. They progressed from barely any, an-ee, controlled flight to manned space missions in less than seventy of their years." Ax looked down at his cleaning work, in hopes of masking that this was something of an affront to his pride. It was much, much more quickly than his own people had advanced.

"And yet, they invented the book before the computer." Remembering that made him feel better, and Ax still found it amusing, and somewhat baffling, that humans considered their computers so much more advanced than books.

The human female leader appeared to be examining the work of the prisoners, and Ax took this as a sign that the time allotted for this pointless task was almost complete.

The information Brainiac 5 had shared was not comforting, but Ax was grateful he had been so forthcoming. The more a warrior knew about the threat he faced, the better prepared he was to confront it. Ax even thought the Coluan could become a friend, in time, which made the prospect of being stranded here long enough for that to happen seem a little less thoroughly discouraging.

"I appreciate your help. I hope it will not be too long until we can re, regain our real bodies."

[emotionl4arobot]

Brainiac 5 managed, just barely, to keep his face carefully neutral at that comparison. Not ever species was capable of advancement at the rate that Colu had advanced, though in light of their progress in more recent years, he wasn't certain how much further into the future they would be able to call themselves the most intellectually advanced in the galaxy.

Regardless, it hardly changed the fact that Aximili's people and his own were from different universes, so comparisons would be unfair. That, and he'd found he didn't mind the other boy's company, so perhaps it would be prudent to think of what someone like Peter would do here, and avoid the topic.

...though that comparison between books and computers was unusual.

Fortunately, before he could open his mouth and say something that could potentially undo the small amount of friendship they had established, the senior soldier in charge of this room announced that they were finished for the shift. Time to move onto what, if his memory was correct, would be the showers he disliked.

He nodded at Aximili's words. "I hope for that as well, but I'd caution against assuming it will be easy. And..." He hesitated a moment before continuing. "I... enjoyed our conversation. I wouldn't object to continuing under better circumstances some time."