Communication Record 5
The Union Ambassador had either a religious or orgasmic experience in the bookstore we took her to, which just confirmed in my mind that she had been completely serious in her speech. The manager wanted to comp her everything, but we told him that it would be better to see what she had to give in trade. I had a feeling that the Ambassador would have something, and sure enough, I was right.
The Ambassador wanted to make sure that the creators of the work she was taking would be compensated, and we assured her that with a large enough exchange, they would be. She seemed pleased about that, and then handed us a small bottle of what looked like pills. "They are not to be ingested," she warned us. "They are nanite generators. Place them in a computing device for a few hours in order for them to learn how the device operates, and then they will record a few small technological advances onto its storage." We asked if the secret of their own construction was part of what they would record, and she said that would be a later trade.
She left the store with a few dozen books, graphic novels and magazines, thanking the store manager the entire time. I had a strong feeling that the authors and artists who had created at least a few of those things would become part of earth’s export quota very shortly.
