I gave Giraud a thumb's up. "Skippy, if you don't already know, I can't explain it to you. These combat robots, are humans capable of controlling them, or is that something the Thuranin do through their cybernetics?"

"The Thuranin use cybernetics, sure, that is one of the most efficient ways to telefactor a remote device, especially in combat where response time is critical. There's no reason we can't hook something up for humans to be the telefactoring agent."

It would have been helpful for me if Skippy bothered to explain unfamiliar technical terms. "To be clear, telefactoring is remote control? With what, joysticks, buttons, that sort of thing?"

"Phhhtttt!" Skippy made a raspberry sound. "As if! No way, dude, that would be way too slow! What, you think this is 1985 and you're playing Super Mario? We'll attach sensors to the operators, so the robots will move as they move. Motion capture, only way better than the technology you monkeys have. Now that I think about it, we'll need goggles also, so the operator can see what the robot sees. That's not as efficient as hooking directly into the optic nerve like the Thuranin do, it should be good enough. And the sensors should include accelerometers, so the operator can get a sense of feedback when the robot encounters resistance."

"Would you kindly unlock the armory, so us grubby monkeys can see these amazing robots?" I put as much sarcasm into my voice as I could.

"Since you asked so nicely, sure." Skippy couldn't resist a dig at us. "Wash your paws first, though, please."