>>5431275"I could help you out with that, if it's not too complicated." You offer.
Kyla sighs.
"You can't just print out whatever you... whatever you... ah. Right, i forgot..."
"What?"
"You're totally insane, just like the greys. No need for computers or schematics or anything, just think about it hard enough and poof!"
"Do you want my help or not?"
"Yes, please. Here, i have a picture of the old one..."
Kyla brings up an image on her holopad, and surprisingly it's something you actually recognize.
"Wait, is that a tesla valve?" You ask.
"Yeah! You know about these? They're used in a lot of engine systems due to their simplicity and durability. I need this shape, in three dimensions though..."
"Alright. But, what happened to the old one, if they're so durable?"
Kyla glares at you for a moment before answering.
"Well, <span class="mu-i">David,</span> just because it's durable doesn't mean it's invincible. If you were to, say, push the engines well past their rated limits over and over again, then MAYBE you end up melting the damned valve!"
"Yeah, that makes sense... alright, let's go see what we can do about it, alright?"
After helping Kyla dump all that junk back into the crate and drag it back inside, Cylia takes her rest in your room while you and Kyla search the local intranet for reference images.
It doesn't take long to find something, and you spend a few minutes memorizing the shape before inputting it into the printer.
"There, good to go?" You ask.
Kyla looks over the image imprinted onto the machine and nods.
"Yeah, this is exactly what i needed... i just wish i could have made it that easily."
"Why can't you? I mean, it's not like you can't picture it, right?"
"...No?" She answers, sounding annoyed.
"What do you mean 'no'?"
"David, that's not something almost anyone can manage. And certainly not at that level! Sanig explained it as, like, artificially stimulating the visual center of your own brain, to make yourself see things that aren't really there. That's just forcing yourself to hallucinate!"
"Well, when you put it that way..."
"And in the first place, that feature of the nanofabricator isn't even meant to be used by most races, it's specifically designed to interact with greys! It's total bullshit! It's crazy! Gods, i wish i could do it!"
"You can! Javan was able to do it after all, and she's a snake!"
"Oh yeah, sure. Believe me, i asked her about that. There's this whole weird meditative process, and it still took her years to be able to make just a couple of objects. All ceremonial stuff from her homeworld...
I can't spend all day training myself to hallucinate so i can make one or two objects, David. I need dozens, hundreds, THOUSANDS of different parts. It's just not possible for me."
"Well, you've got the two of us, at least?"
"Yeah. Without you and Sanig, we'd be screwed. There's no way this ship would hold together."
"Wait, what about SHODAN? She helps me out with the design process quite often, too."
