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PuzzleType: TRA_NPC_ANOMALY_
Alien: Friends everywhere, if only you know where to look. Friends in all shapes, all sizes, all places!
The Gek wipes their grease-splattered hands on their suit as they address me. They introduce themselves as Specialist Polo, fugitive of the Gek.
They tell me they gave up trade, units, and all material possessions to flee into an anomaly outside of time and space with a robotic priest. They have a jocular air about them, all things considered.
They are curious about my travels, about what sentient species I have seen. They do not get out much these days...
{Transmit species data}
Polo pores over the data, muttering bitterly at variations they are already familiar with, cheering at those they are not.
Finally Polo applauds wildly, and hands me a blueprint. They claim that we are now bonded in 'glorious friendship'.
---ANOMALYTECH1---
{Leave}
Alien: Talk, read! Study monoliths, if you can find them! Give yourself a strong brain to match those strong legs! To explore is to discover yourself, friend!
Polo bobs up and down happily, convinced that I am a kindred spirit in an odyssey of exploration and invention.
Polo was once a specialist in inter-species trade and communication. They learned to speak many languages, their mind changing as they did. Once they cared only for trade, now they wanted something more. Everything changed when they met Nada...
Polo wonders if learning alien languages will affect me in the same way. They wish to broaden my horizons and explore the limits of my understanding...
{Transmit language data}
The Gek runs an instrument over my head, their hands trembling with excitement. Then Polo fiddles feverishly with arcane machinery, and proudly presents me with a schematic.
---ANOMALYTECH2---
{Leave}
Alien: Units this, units that... A strange, sad way to live a life, eh? Fill your pockets, we'll find out why they make all these worlds go round.
Polo's muzzle breaks into a wide, warm smile. Maybe too wide, given the short length of our friendship. Perhaps the jovial Gek feels lonely out here.
They engage me in talk of wealth. How does an economy function when somehow stretched across an entire galaxy? Polo would welcome any insights, encouraging me to accrue units.
{Transmit wealth data}
Polo analyses the trading logs from my ship and my exosuit, creating an incomprehensible graph from the results. They laugh as if at a shared joke.
Polo tells me that their fellow Gek are the most foolish species of all. Money is not real. Nothing is real. They tell me that only friendship matters, giving me the gift of a new technology in demonstration.
---ANOMALYTECH3---
{Leave}
Alien: Something is wrong with these universes, friend! Goodness fails... hearts are hardened. We must find out why.
Polo seems disappointed by the slow development of our friendship. They confide in me that although they care for Nada deeply, they fear they have become co-dependent in their exile.
Polo does not see why they cannot still be friends with their old species, even if they wish to execute Polo and Nada as heretics. Why the need for violence?
Polo encourages me to stop evil where I can, to make war against the pirates that plague so many systems. They hope to understand what drives us to do the things we do.
{Transmit pirate data}
Polo seems upset at the data I send through. They do not understand why all of this killing, all of this bloodshed was necessary.
They suggest that perhaps they will never understand. They hand me a blueprint, turning away from my sight. It is unclear if they blame me for what I have had to do.
---ANOMALYTECH4---
{Leave}
Alien: Those flying machines, those walking machines! Everywhere! Chase us, hurt us, stop our adventures. Bad robots.
Worry passes over Polo's face, and they seem to visibly shrink. Seeing the records of the pirate ships I had destroyed seems to have deeply upset the Gek.
An awkward moment passes, then Polo makes a suggestion. Polo feels that civilisation should come back. Then the pirates would not need to steal, surely? There would be no need for any more killing or bad behaviour.
The Sentinels are the problem. Polo suggests I make a point of destroying any that I encounter. We might then have a better understanding of the machines' weaknesses, and we could be friends again, too.
{Transmit Sentinel data}
Though Polo tries to appear aloof, their eyes blaze with relief at the sight of me. They still care, then. A small smile accompanies my compensation for the Sentinel data.
---ANOMALYTECH5---
{Leave}
Alien: You, friend, visit the worst places you can find. Stay alive. No good to me dead, are you? Can't learn much from a corpse. Although... No, never mind, stay alive.
At last, Polo is affable once again. A nod, a smile, even a companionable tap on the arm at one point. A friendship renewed.
I blush when the Gek mechanic tells me that they hope I live a long, healthy life. I have to swallow disappointment when it transpires that Polo's true motivation is to study how my suit responds to long-term exposure to extreme climates.
{Transmit survival data}
Polo seems unconvinced by my claims of longevity, wondering aloud if I am some Sentinel-made replica.
They check me over thoroughly, then offer a huge grin. They seem excited about whatever they have discovered, granting me the gift of new technology.
---ANOMALYTECH6---
{Leave}
Alien: A whole galaxy for you, just for you. You must see it all.
Aha, no, I joke. But a few more systems, maybe?
Our earlier awkwardness is now long forgotten. Polo wishes me to indulge in their favourite hobby: unfettered exploration of the stars, warping from system to system. They wish to see me fly.
{Transmit Warp data}
Before taking the Warp data, Polo gazes deep into my eyes, trying to discern if I am changed by my long travels. There is a wistful sigh, and then a schematic is produced.
---ANOMALYTECH7---
{Leave}
Alien: I miss the dirt, friend, the worlds on which I once walked... I miss the sounds of birds and beasts. Even my data, even my recordings are gone, as if they had never been...
Polo gestures forlornly at a jumble of broken electronics beside them. It seems that an accident has befallen some of their precious research...
Perhaps when I next return, I can restock their archives with reports on a multitude of strange creatures. I will show them all a world has to offer.
{Transmit creature data}
With infectious enthusiasm, Polo browses the creature scans, and we find ourselves cooing and laughing together at some of the stranger species.
They reward me with a blueprint of their own design. Polo says that they have no more use for it...
---ANOMALYTECH8---
{Leave}
Alien: Are there others like us, Traveller? Others who see the truth? I would so like new friends, friend!
Nada and Polo appear to be proof that their species are not bound by pre-ordained roles, rebelling against the mantras of greed and conformity.
Polo wishes to know if there are other lifeforms who might join them in this place. They wish for me to interact with a wider sample of Gek, Vy'keen, and Korvax, hoping that I might bring them new friends.
{Transfer species data}
Polo stares at length at the images of each species, watching their movements and listening to their words. Every lifeform that shows the slightest individuality appears to have something wrong with them, some sickness within.
They give me my reward with a subtle sadness, claiming there are no new friends to be found. They begin to cough.
---ANOMALYTECH9---
{Leave}
Alien: You are not like me, friend! You can still go to planets. You can still meet new lifeforms, speak, shout, love! Nada and Polo would be killed for going so far!
You must learn more words. You must know how to make yourself heard, Traveller! You are our only friend.
Polo claims that they cannot teach me language directly, that their files on alien languages have been damaged.
I wonder if I am being manipulated somehow. The Gek watches me with an earnest and friendly sorrow, awaiting my discovery of more words. It is almost as if they want to tell me something...
{Transmit language data}
I present the proof of my linguistic advancement. Polo bursts into tears.
They say they wish I remembered my old life, our old times together. I ask Polo what they mean, but they claim they cannot talk about it. They claim that they have said too much.
---ANOMALYTECH10---
{Leave}
Alien: Sometimes I miss currency, Traveller. I know that I should not, I know that adventure is its own reward, but I used to be able to buy such nice things...
Polo proclaims that the best way to live is to stop doing what anyone tells me and go enjoy myself.
See the stars, earn a fortune, buy myself something nice. That's what they would do in my shoes, claims the Gek, nudging me in the ribs.
{Transmit wealth data}
Polo does not even ask for my research data this time. The Gek simply congratulates me for my success and then bestows a gift upon me. I am wealthier, but none the wiser.
---ANOMALYTECH11---
{Leave}
Alien: Pests of the final frontier, nasty little obstacles to adventure. Death is sad, bullies are sadder.
Polo seems to wish to encourage my development as a spacefarer, but repeatedly alludes to some deeper purpose, some hidden truth to all of this.
Polo suggests that I should once again throw myself into combat with pirates. What a thrilling existence that would be, they argue, miming dogfighting craft with their hands while making sound effects.
When I remind Polo of their earlier sadness and fear of violence, the Gek laughs, clearly troubled. Destroy ships or do not destroy ships... they understand it now. It will change nothing.
{Transmit pirate data}
There is mingled guilt and relief in the Gek's bright eyes as they hand me another blueprint. Whether or not their intentions are honest, Polo does not want to see me harmed.
---ANOMALYTECH12---
{Leave}
Alien: They have found us! Eheu, Nada! Eheu!
I notice a strange-looking message on one of Polo's panels. As the Gek spots my gaze, their brow furrows. Whatever the news is, it isn't good. Polo hurriedly turns off the screen when they see me, forcing a smile onto an anxious face.
Trying to be friendly, the Gek states that the Sentinels have started to detect the presence of their anomaly in various systems.
If the Sentinels are not distracted soon, they might kill Nada and Polo before their proper time. But Polo assures me not to worry. As long as we have friends, nothing will ever truly be wrong.
{Transmit Sentinel data}
Polo silently bundles me into a hug when I return, and this time I do not recoil. I do not ask why, either. There are tears in the Gek's eyes.
They thank me for saving their lives, however brief the respite.
---ANOMALYTECH13---
{Leave}
Alien: Do not die, friend. A waste of data. Hee, no, joke. I would miss you so.
Polo and I treat each other as friends, trusted companions in our ongoing adventure among the stars. I know the Gek has a secret, but I trust that it will be shared with me in time.
For now, Polo encourages me to become the ultimate explorer, to push myself to the limits. There are places out there where none have survived. But perhaps I can succeed where others have failed...
{Transmit survival data}
Polo is rapt with envy as I recount tales of the monstrous climates I have endured, of horrendous travels through burning rain and choking heat. What peculiar jealousy.
---ANOMALYTECH14---
{Leave}
Alien: I have something to tell you, friend. Something I should have told you long ago...
My friend tells me that they are going to die. That the time of Nada and Polo is coming to an end. They cannot say more. They cannot explain it. But they must say goodbye to all they have known.
Grief-stricken, I try to offer condolences, but Polo gathers their composure. They tell me to warp further than ever before, to visit places that no-one will ever see again. They tell me to be what I am: a Traveller.
{Transmit Warp data}
Polo tells me that they are glad I have seen so much with my own eyes. Wonder is a rare but dangerous gift. Polo gives me a blueprint to light my way...
---ANOMALYTECH15---
{Leave}
Alien: So good that you are here. You bring me light. Show me creatures I cannot see myself. Many creatures. After that, my friend of friends, I know not what you or I will do.
Whatever is making them ill, the Gek's sense of wonder remains. They are keen to witness the majesty of the stars through my eyes.
Creatures are existence at its strangest, its wildest. I will show Polo all I can before their death. I will be their friend.
{Transmit final creature data}
Polo puts the data to one side and turns to the window. For a time, we watch the stars together, my friend and I. We clasp hands, and then I go to leave. There is more to see.
---ANOMALYTECH16---
{Leave}
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