Hannah shook her head to shake away the irrelevant and superfluous thoughts. She regained her composure, and nodded:
"Impressive."
That one word made Onhalu beam, before he looked at Hannah:
"Miss Hannah, my race… and I, have a request that might be presumptuous, but…"
Jack looked on curiously, while Hannah simple gave the elder a calm look:
"Speak."
Elder Onhalu took a deep breath, then opened his eyes with a calmer look:
"We would like to ask you to complete your advancement to the true beginning of evolution here, on our planet."
Jack raised his eyebrows in surprise. Hannah gave the elder and his two attendants who were looking eager a deep look, giving no response for a moment.
It was when the hosts were feeling fidgety that she spat out a single word in a cool tone:
"Reason."
Despite the lack of warmth, the elder's eyes lit up, because so long as it was not a straight up rejection, there was hope, no matter how small it might be.
