“Yes, that is the case from our perspective, but we need to consider the Navigator’s perspective as well.” Vreta responded. “As of yet, we have not established regular communication with the Navigator. We have no way to convey our intentions, nor any guarantees it would believe them if we could. The only thing we have to define our intentions are our actions. I think we need to take care to portray ourselves as allies, not jailers.”

This time, it was Marae who contributed her thoughts. “Then perhaps we should make communication more of a focus? If we can establish regular communication with the Navigator, that would take a lot of this guesswork out of our interactions with it. We could simply [i]tell it[/i] what we are doing, and get its feedback and opinions. I would suggest we try more methods of communication, especially if they are more direct than using harnesses to interact with the simulation.”

Vreta nodded in agreement. If they could regularly communicate with the Navigator, that would reduce the chances of misunderstandings. It would not necessarily [i]eliminate[/i] them, but it would at least make the risks more acceptable. “If you can do so successfully, then I do believe that would be helpful. The details of how to do so are, naturally, more of your expertise. I can personally be of more help to the people of Babylon, and on that, I do agree with you that the city should be evacuated. Perhaps even more of the planet, but at least the city to start. And I can say that my government agrees. I have been in some communication with Rareth, so I have an idea of my people’s standing on this situation. Evidently, the Rahn’Saki predicted that a refugee crisis could arise from this even during the early stages, and [i]especially[/i] after they agreed to help refugees, they have been preparing for this eventuality. We have created prefabricated dwellings, set aside ample food and medicine, found space on a viable world that can sustain the population, and have been preparing ships to assist with transport. We are ready, so the only thing standing in the way of an evacuation now is your government’s approval.”