Audio Transmission, un: E.D.I.

[machina_ex_luna]

[There is a soft buzzing sound, like the staticky noise of speakers taxed beyond their limit. It rises in intensity and pitch until it sputters briefly, and then cuts out. Everywhere that the transmission is accepted a tinny voice scales into the audible range, coming in mid-sentence.]

...ention. Due to unknown anoma... [The transmission briefly fuzzes out, and then back in, several seconds later] ...as sustained catastrophic damage. Please respond. Message repeating on—

[The message, the recording stops. The transmission continues, after a brief pause, but not as if a computer were resuming an automated broadcast. The voice is the same as before, a calm, feminine voice, speaking with a neutral accent, in english.]

Hello, I am EDI. [There is an appropriate pause, as if the speaker needed a moment to gather her wits, or to allow the listeners to do so.] I have some questions.

Comments

[glowfeelers]

Oh, well, [ It should be a simple question, yet she pauses to think before she answers. For her, it's not entirely straightforward. ] I am not sure what name my universe has, and I do not remember the planet I was born on, and the planet I was raised on had to be destroyed, and I have been travelling with my friends ever since...

[ Another pause. And a simpler answer she should have given first, ] I am from space! Where are you from?

[machina_ex_luna]

I see...

[The question gives EDI pause as well. She can trace and name the origin-points of most of her physical components, can say the location for almost every significant moment of inception. But... The name of a universe? A single day of "birth"? A planet? No.]

I am. Also, from space. We are similar, in that respect.

[glowfeelers]

Oh! We are! Do you think we are from the same space? There are people from many universes and many spaces here.

[machina_ex_luna]

No. Network archives indicate that you are of a nonhuman species unfamiliar to Citadel Space. While it is not impossible for such a species to exist undetected, it is vanishingly unlikely for such an undetected species to have been brought here by pure chance.

[There is a small pause, in which EDI's silence seems to convey both satisfaction and, briefly, embarrassment.]

...Do you have a more specific query?

[glowfeelers]

Oh? Citadel Space? [ Mantis doesn't recognize that name - if it is a part of her universe, it's a jurisdiction she doesn't know. But EDI seems quite certain of herself, so, ] I suppose we are not from the same space.

Most people here are not from the same places, though! Have you found anyone you know? Or from Citadel Space?

[machina_ex_luna]

Perhaps. I am still analyzing archival network data.

[This is a lie, but some information is classified for a reason. Most of the reason is, admittedly, "just in case" but paranoia is healthy, right?]

However, I am currently... alone. I have never been alone before.

[glowfeelers]

Well, even if you don't find someone you know, there are many people here to keep you from being alone! I can keep you company, I have enjoyed meeting new people and making new friends here!

[machina_ex_luna]

You seem very agreeable.

[This is quite the compliment, coming from EDI.]

But we have not truly "met." How can you be so confident that you will enjoy my company?

[glowfeelers]

Thank you!

[ She thinks that's a compliment, anyway! ]

I suppose I don't know that for sure, but we can find out by spending time together!

[machina_ex_luna]

That is an excellent point. I would be delighted to invite further exploration. Do you possess a personal navigation device, Mantis?