[Snip]

The Elder listened to each of them in turn, the faint harmonic resonance surrounding the chamber shifting almost imperceptibly as their questions were spoken. When Grahams finished, the Elder regarded the physician for several moments before answering.

=/= There is one misunderstanding I should correct, Doctor. =/=

The Elder extended one hand slightly, indicating the Shiarians gathered throughout the chamber. =/= We are alive. We are born. We grow. We experience injury, age, and eventually death, although perhaps not always in ways your instruments have been taught to recognize. Your machines struggle because they search for the patterns of life already known to those who constructed them. =/=

A subtle harmonic note passed through the crystalline chamber. =/= It is Vey’lan whose nature remains uncertain. Even to us. =/=

The Elder considered Grahams’ unusual request before slowly extending an arm toward him. =/= You may touch me, Doctor. Perhaps your hands will understand something your instruments cannot. =/=

The Elder then turned toward Reeves. =/= You ask what Vey’lan wants from you. I cannot answer that with certainty. That question assumes Vey’lan possesses desire as you understand desire. We know that Vey’lan listens. We know that it remembers. We know that it changes its harmonies in response to what occurs within and around it. And there have been times when it has acted without instruction from us. =/=

The Elder’s gaze traveled briefly across the crystalline walls. =/= Those things resemble choice. They resemble thought. Perhaps even life. Yet resemblance is not proof. We have lived beside Vey’lan for generations and still cannot tell you whether it is a machine of unimaginable complexity, a living being unlike any we understand, or something for which neither word is sufficient. =/=

The Shiarian looked back toward Reeves. =/= But your observation is wise. You have spoken to us since your arrival. Perhaps you have also been speaking to Vey’lan without realizing it. =/=

Finally, the Elder regarded Thalos. =/= We learned long ago that Vey’lan responds differently to those who enter its influence. Sometimes we understand why. Sometimes we do not. Violence, disruption, and attempts to force control upon its structures have produced responses that we interpret as rejection or defense. Yet Vey’lan does not always react as we expect. =/=

The Elder paused. =/= We can recognize intent through words and actions. Vey’lan appears to recognize something as well, but whether it understands intention as you and I do, I cannot say. =/=

Another soft resonance moved beneath their feet, almost too faint to distinguish from the ever-present harmonics of the city. =/= When your vessel approached, we did not command Vey’lan to open the way for you. We asked. Vey’lan answered. =/=

The Elder allowed the significance of that distinction to remain before continuing. =/= That is why we permitted this meeting. Not because we decided you were worthy of entering Vey’lan, but because Vey’lan had already made a decision of its own. =/=

The Elder looked among the Starfleet officers. =/= Perhaps the question before us is no longer simply whether Vey’lan is alive. Perhaps it is whether beings such as ourselves possess a definition of life broad enough to recognize the answer. =/=

The canidin remained certainly lost on what route to take next, finally standing up and heading towards the back of the bridge where the communication bay was mounted on the wall. =/\= “Captain, this is the bridge.” =/\= he stated. =/\= “We require assistance with a set of localized harmonics near Merrimack’s docking bay.” =/\=_

=/\= Captain Glen here=/\= Glen answered. =/\= Sorry, but what do you mean by localised harmonics near the docking bay? is the ship’s physical structure vibrating or the are our shields vibrating? Are they out of sync with the Vey’lan’s structural force fields perhaps? Or, is the Warp engine field causing it? =/\=

=/\= Can we power down whatever is the cause? We’ve had a discussion with the Shiarians here and they have no control over the Vey’lan. It does pretty much whatever it likes! However, it allowed us to come here, and didn’t harm us when it could have. =/\=

=/\=“We had considered some field work to be performed planetside in order to understand where Merrimack’s sensors won’t reach. The network appears to have an extension running beyond this planet.” =/\=

Lieutenant JG. Rynak ch’Sorel

=/\= Sorry, but I meant to power down the shields or the warp reactor to some lower level, not to go out and find the crystal network off-switch, but that’s useful to know that it stretches beyond our sensor range. We suspect that it may be interconnected across the whole of the Expanse. If it isn’t doing any harm, I suggest you just monitor it and wait and see. Keep us updated. Glen Out! =/\=

Glen, CO