It’s funny to think that the robot guy could be in reference to a few different people at this point, when not long ago, Palamedes had never heard of, or even imagined, a sentient machine. “That’s my assessment as well. The flora are thanergenic black holes. It's not living by any standard I can detect.”

Pal has never seen a forest before, but he knows enough about how plants should act, and this definitely isn’t it. Even the hydroponics bay back on the Library had felt like more of a living, breathing ecosystem than this place.

He nods. “Yup. I checked most of the furniture in here as soon as we arrived. It was less than a day old. Everything else is the same age, too, regardless of appearance. It’s like it all sprung fully-formed from the captain’s forehead right before we got here.”