Argus clutched onto the black case as if her life depended on it. The shuttle slowly entered the warp liner, docking on one of the smart ports along the inside of its massive cylinder.
She felt Diavae staring at her. "What?"
"Why do you strive to help this girl?" They replied.
Argus stuttered, "I-what? She's my friend. Why wouldn't I?"
"She could easily live out her life as is. Humans can develop their own technology. You're not too far behind that device in your lap."
"Why does it matter?"
"It doesn't. The deed is done. I can understand why I did it. It's in my nature, but you have yet to explain your agenda."
"My agenda? Really?" Argus snapped, her eyes narrowed and her voice rising. "You think I have some ulterior motive?"
"I…" Diavae paused, suddenly aware of Argus' anger. They looked hurt. "I don't know of any other way to say it."
"What did you mean?"
"Your motivation? She's a friend. Your goal? To restore her body to optimal levels and reinstate her status. Your reasoning? She didn't deserve what happened to her, and the political tension foreshadows civil war. Her skills would be needed." Diavae paused and chose her words carefully. She continued in a slow trickle of words, "I know these things. I don't know the agenda, what you hope to gain..." Argus opened her mouth to speak, her eyes wide and shifting back to anger. Diavae stopped her, raising a hand and quickly added, "...let me rephrase. I don't know how it benefits you."
Argus took a deep breath, ashamed at how she reacted. "Sorry, I should've been more understanding."
"Don't be." They replied, patiently waiting for her answer.
"I don't really gain anything. I get a sense of fulfillment, maybe. It feels good to right a wrong."
"What if she didn't want you to?"
Argus shook her head. "I wouldn't even be here if that was the case."
"The operation is painful and asks a lot of the patient." Diavae explained. "The biology is virtually identical, but it's never been used on a human before. What if she can't do it?"
"She can." Argus replied "She's stronger than you think."
The Eden like to adopt other species as pets. Let's not mince words, that's basically what they're doing. They have a reputation for being pretentious and self-righteous because of this.
Be that as it may, they are very caring pet owners. Many of these species are limited and most lack the means of galactic travel. They have no way to expand and interact with the Eden. The Eden love other cultures and naturally see this as a problem.
On a more practical note, these limitations heavily affect the Eden economy. They spend an awful amount of time, effort, and resources to uplift these species, and these limits make it difficult to get any kind of return through trade. Enter the warp liners.
Oh wow! I'm loving that closing line:
:DYes indeeeddddd argus is a little cynical, but it is a compelling argument XD thank you very much!