Report by Thoughtful 45, Quicknode Nuncio to the Combine of Sentients
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Concerning the Incorporation of the Nau’gsh: This action was sudden, but not unprecedented. While the Quicknodes and the Brrrrrrrrrrrrvvbh had long been under the guardianship of Combine members, the incorporation of the Twist was equally sudden. The Twist’s lack of membership, however, was quite literally an oversight. Once discovered, there was no question that they should be included.
The Nau’gsh were another matter entirely. Their evolution, the most rapid known to Advanced Sentients, forced quick action on the part of the Lords of the Inner Vent. The Nau’gsh were determined to meet the qualifications for Combine membership, but relatively little was known of their habits. The Southern Coriolis Directorate proposed the idea of a rigged contest to see how the new members would react. The Nau’gsh nuncio, Ashtara, proved to live up to the Vent Lords’ report. He reacted flexibly and adaptably, producing a serviceable literary work on the spot with little complaint. When he discovered that he had been tricked, he took it in good humor, and used it to leverage himself to an enhanced, albeit curiously so, entitlement.
The most puzzling thing about the Nau’gsh nuncio is that although faced with a number of obstacles including telepathic projection fatigue, adapting to a circumstance quite possibly beyond his former imagining, a worsening political situation amongst his own people, separation anxiety (based on the Vent Lords’ report, it was predicted that the Nau’gsh would be psychologically stressed by distance from their homeworld and their mates), and having to internalize an enormous amount of protocol and history, the thing which seemed the most upsetting to Ashtara was the decay of the articulate particle Phil. Of course, he had no prior experience with such short-lived sentients, and the Combine representatives failed to warn him that it was common to expend 3-4 Twist representatives over the course of one meeting. (The most extreme case was during the great Ammmulyt Nova debate, which required 143 different Twist representatives for the duration.) However, given how rapidly Ashtara adjusted to the other stressors, this situation stood out as unique. He seemed to have formed a genuine attachment to a being of a completely different order in a matter of days.
After his departure, a discussion followed concerning whether his sentimentality would become a liability to the Combine. It was agreed that such reactions are not forbidden, nor are in any sense magenta-flags of danger. However, it was also decided that Ashtara should be kept away from any duties that necessitated the making of harsh and clear-headed decisions. In his absence, he was assigned to head the decoration committee for the celebration at the next meeting – the two billion rotation anniversary of the incorporation of the Brrrrrrrrrrrrvvbh, to take place approximately three decades hence.
It has been entrusted to me to communicate this to Ashtara. The simplest means will be through the application downloaded into Captain Suzanna Noviik’s datapad.