Alzigo frowned. “I have no clue. This is highly unusual. Theoretically, it's possible to infuse an entire planet, but the amount of piTec required to do that would be astronomical. Such a thing would be extremely … frivolous. Why would someone go through the effort of infusing an entire planet?” He paused, grabbed one of his oily dreadlocks, and twirled it around his finger, seemingly thinking it over. “However …” he started again slowly. “Assuming your information is correct, such an action would account for the horrors you described. A sudden and rapid Tec infusion would have dire consequences.”

Nori held up one arm, closed her eyes, and took in a deep breath. When she opened them again her voice was calmer. “We’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves. To tell you the truth, we’re still struggling with the idea of the existence of other intelligent life forms outside of our own. I’m afraid there’s a large gap in our knowledge. Can you perhaps tell us a little bit about all of this? What is Infusion and how can we fight it? What is Tec, and piTec? And what the hell are the Warped?

The tall alien seemed to shrink in his seat. “I’m really not the type of person to handle first contact situations like this … When I had to inject you with the translation pack, I just assumed you had somehow missed the upgrade. I never imagined this would be your first encounter with the enlightened universe … I’m afraid I won't do a very good job of introducing you to it. My brother-”

“Your brother isn’t here,” Nori interrupted. “But you are. From what I’ve gathered, you took a risk coming here. You wanted to be a pioneer, seize an opportunity in a new land. That takes guts. But you have to be willing to push on through the hurdles. So tell us, please, what is happening to us?”

Alzigo looked at her for a long moment and then nodded slowly. “You are right, of course, Miss. There are things you should be made aware of. Where should I start … the Tec … the Tec is .... everything.” He looked around at the staring humans as if his simple proclamation explained everything. He coughed once at their blank faces and continued speaking. “Every spacefaring race in the galaxy knows of the Tec and relies on it, but no one knows what their origin is. The most advanced races’ scientists have spent lifetimes studying it, but no one truly understands how they work. The most common notion is that they were created by an advanced ancient race, millions of years ago, to facilitate integration between life forms and technology.”

“But what is it, exactly?” Nori asked. “Are you talking about nanobots?”