#assistant technology

“Get back to work and if I see you with something in your ears again you’re fired!”

The human just stared blankly

“Do you understand me? Is your universal translator even working?”

It took the human a moment then wrote something down

‘My translator is with my hearing aids you took’ -- Anon Guest

In all things, communication is important. This is why any given traveller will find far more accessibility options available in Galactic space than many other places. It is also why many Alliance polities despise working with, or for, any of the Greater Deregulations. Mostly because those in positions of power in any given Greater Deregulation has never been very involved in communication. They insist on yelling at people until they give up.

They also insist on applying their moral values to everything that offends them[1] and yelling about it until they get their way. Such an exchange has already happened between CEO of CEO's Hal E. Burridin and one of the Alliance's Ronin Humans named Quo. Unbeknownst to Hal, Human Quo is wearing assistive devices. One among many that help those with hearing disorders. Hal has just processed these particular devices as 'headphones'. Let's watch the chaos.

"YOU!" Hal bellowed, marching over to the offending Human. "Are you listening to music on company time?" Without any heed to Galactic laws concerning approved personal interactions, interference with physical being, assault, and removal of equipment, Hal reached up and removed what he saw as an offense. "If I see you with something in your ears again, you're FIRED!"

The most astonishing fact that the Scollarids learned about Humans was this: Humans can't see their own glow. These Deathworlders were on par with them when it came to surviving strategies. They did more with less, did less with more, and got into further territories than any other species known to intelligent life. It seemed like they could - as a species - accomplish anything.

But they could not see how their colours wavered and intermixed with their moods. They couldn't perceive the soft, warm tones of their own body heat, or the subtle patterns of their inner radiations as they went through their days. The Scollarids said, Humans are beautiful in the dark, and the Humans didn't understand it as a compliment.

Humans glow. Their soft illumination has soothed many an infant Scollarid in the middle of the night. Their mood-lamp patterns of infra-red, ultra-violet, and electron blue have calmed hundreds in times of stress. It's such a pity that they can't see themselves with Scollarid eyes.