[center][h1][color=Firebrick]Q-T Brackman[/color][/h1][/center]

The lance shaped [url=https://i.imgur.com/JUGwkeL.jpg]jetbike[/url] Q-T had managed to get Neilsy to give up after a personal appeal was a wonder of engineering when you got down to it, far superior than a mere hoverbike in numerous ways. The most important one as far as Q-T was concerned was speed. It wasn't one she was using to its full capability now, as the last thing she wanted to do was race towards the megafauna, the ‘dragons’, at a full clip and provoke them. But if things got hairy, or scaly rather, then oh boy, did the Ai want to know she had the way out of the situation they had available. 

Other than herself and the bike, she also had a pod that had rapidly been hauled out of deep storage at her request, that contained a 300+ year old experimental device optimistically called The Universal Translator, built at a time where the possibility of encountering sentient aliens was still considered a possibility and not a pipe-dream. It was a dumb Ai coded with every human language that was still known at that time, and numerous theoretical ways of bridging the interstellar language gap between humanity and alien kind. It had been tested and proven to work with human derived languages, both real and fictional, but today she’d be seeing if those old folk’s blue sky passion projects would finally pay dividends. If she could convince the dragon to speak enough to fuel its need for data that was.

Other than transporting the experiment and running away if necessary, she’d also intended to use the jet bike to go up to the dragon’s level, something that became unnecessary when said dragon broke half a dozen laws of physics and shapeshifted into a human(-ish) form. She almost skimmed right past the beauty as her mechanical mind fell over itself trying to work out where in the universe the rest of her mass had gone, before she gave herself a metaphorical slap on the face to knock that off and focus on the mission. She signaled back to the ship that was going to approach, and then did so.

She slowed, turned the bike to one side and then carefully drafted it down to hover at the ground level at a polite distance from the humanoid dragon, after which the short bot hopped off of the, put on her best disarming smile.png and waved to the woman as she spoke a language Q-T predictably didn't understand. If the dragon had instead spoken to her in perfect Mandarin or English or something she would have flipped. Instead she pinged the ship with a status update, something she kept doing whenever she remembered to do so from here on out during the encounter, which went along with a direct video feed of what was going on, and then began the likely lengthy process of trying to communicate.

[color=Firebrick]”Hello, I know you can’t understand me yet, and I can't understand you, but hopefully if we keep talking then this machine”[/color] she pointed to the steel sphere which was currently blinking in a computational manner [color=Firebrick]”will be able to work out-”[/color]

“Language shares features with several found on the Indonesian islands  ...” the blinking sphere helpful informed her at that very moment.

[color=Firebrick]”... what?!”[/color] That managed to push her over the edge for just a second, the Ai turning on the translator device while throwing one one pair of arms up in the air while the others angrily gestured it in a combination of shock and, frankly, disgust.

“Analysis complete: Language seems to be an older version of Indonesian, likely that used during the Majapahit Empire. Beginning translation process now” it then informed her, the old human’s masterwork having bridged the communication gap in only a handful of seconds. It was a little rough at first, but quickly got up to speed with more information as the conversation went on.

[color=fff200]"You seem distressed? It is just a language issue… Why is that box speaking over me?"[/color] the Dragon, now suddenly understandable thanks to the universal translator acting as an intermediary, said, quite clearly annoyed about the fact that the machine’s way of doing the translation was speaking her words in Q-T’s tongue with only a few moments of delay, resulting in it sounding like it was speaking over her.

[color=Firebrick]”Ahh, no sorry it’s translating for us while we speak. Hang on let me just quickly internalize the language”[/color] Q-T replied hurriedly, the box doing the same to her overlaying translation as she spoke, and getting an [color=fff200]"Ahh"[/color] of understanding form the dragon, who calmed her ire before the bot had even finished explaining due to her speaking being a demonstration of what was being done. [color=fff200]"How interesting. And quite annoying, by I suppose I can make do"[/color]

[color=Firebrick]”It's ok, you won’t need to. I’ve routed the new language into my own systems, so it’ll do that translating internally and pre-translate my vocalizations. I mean you’ll still need to put up with that with most of the humans…”[/color] Q-T said in near flawless Pataliputran, though she was still babbling a bit as a result of the shock of finding out the alien dragon knew a human tongue.

[color=fff200]"I see."[/color] the dragon replied, too proud to display ignorance on whatever the little machine had been talking about just now, and instead inquiring about her little panic attack [color=fff200]"May I ask why you seemed so alarmed for a moment there?"[/color] 

[color=Firebrick]”Oh. Well. uh. You really shouldn't be able to speak a human language, so the fact that you can kinda took me by surprise?”[/color] Q-T began saying and got an affronted look for her undiplomatic efforts. The Ai shook her hands as if she could wave away the accidental insult while trying to correct her mistake [color=Firebrick]''Wait wait.  I’m sorry. That’s not an insult. It's because… ok look can I start from the beginning?”[/color] 

[color=fff200]"You may,"[/color] was the dragon’s somewhat terse reply, the woman folding her arms while staring down at the robot, now clearly judging her.

The bot gave her a half bow in thanks and then started speaking in a far more professional tone, wanting to try and do over the fist contact moment with the dignity it deserved [color=Firebrick]”My name is Q T Brackman, and I am currently representing the crew of the explorer vessel Thucydides and, by extension, out home, the Commonwealth of Humanity. We come in peace, and apologize for landing on your territory un-announced. You see we had an engine issue that forced us to, ah, set down here so we could repair it,”[/color] she explained, deciding to undersell just how bad things work just in case [color=fff200]"Despite the unfortunate circumstances that brought us here, it is an honor and a marvel to meet you and your kin, and I hope this will be the first step towards a long friendship between our two peoples.”[/color]

[color=fff200]"And I am Galmira. I speak for the elders of my kind, who are very concerned about your crashing upon our land. Your words of peace will no doubt alleviate some of their worst fears."[/color]  the dragon introduced herself and not so subtly informed her that she wasn't buying the ‘landing’ part of their turbulent arrival, before saying [color=fff200]"However, I have traveled and wide, and have never heard of this ‘Commonwealth of Humanity,’ nor seen anything like this vessel of yours. So from where exactly is it that you hail?"[/color]

[color=Firebrick]”I should have been clearer. We are not from this world and instead came from space. You see the Commonwealth of Humanity is an interstellar civilization”[/color]  Q-T tried to explain and then realized that the two thousand year old language did not have terminology to explain this simply, so she had to improvise [color=Firebrick]”We are. Hmmm. We come from a star. Well several. You see, the stars are just other suns that are very far away. They have other worlds around them, and on one of these, Earth, is the birthplace of humanity. From there they spread to and settled other worlds, one of which I myself call home, via craft like the Thucydides. The Thucydides itself is an exploration vessel, made to explore other stars, which is what brought us here, to you. Does that make sense?”[/color]

Galmira pinched the bridge of her nose saying [color=fff200]"That. Is a lot to take in."[/color] before latching onto a somewhat trivial part of it that she could ask about, mostly to buy her time to take in this revelation with dignity [color=fff200]"If you are representing the  Commonwealth of Humanity, then why are you not a human? I would much rather prefer to converse with one of your creators than a mere proxy, if that is what you are"[/color]

[color=Firebrick]”I am Human. Legally, to be exact. I am simply here instead of one of them because I am built and trained to handle dangers, such as yourselves if you had turned out to not be friendly.”[/color] she explained, simplifying centuries of legal arguments back and forth on the topic into the spirit they now represented. 

[color=fff200]"Hm. Well now that you know that we are friendly, would they care to speak with me in person? You could take me to your leader, perhaps?"[/color] she asked, incorrectly believing that what the bot said was not really the case. Both self assured in terms of her not being able to handle the dangers of the dragons and somewhat doubting that she was really an equal to the humans of this commonwealth she spoke of.

[color=Firebrick]”The captain actually wanted to speak with you, ah, remotely. Let me set that up and you can discuss meeting in person with her?”[/color] the bot suggested, a touch downtrodden but also understanding of her desire to go directly to the woman in charge.  

[color=fff200]"You may"[/color] Galmira replied, accompanying her words with a dismissive gesture.

Rather than display the captain’s face on her face, that would be weird, she instead went for a decent sized and incredibly rugged tablet that came as part of the jetbike’s EVA equipment. She pinged the com’s officer while she was getting it, and together they quickly set up a connection from it to one of the consoles on the bridge. Then followed the officer’s instructions with how to initiate direct communication between the captain and Galmira.