Ehm... Hello, my name's Decc, and I work at the 'Synths of the Outer Rim Historical Museum'.
Sometimes I go by Saica instead, and my real name is actually Deckard, though no one actually calls me that these days.

I grew up in the Sandevi system, in the Sandevi-4 megacolony where my parents worked. My dad worked at a greenhouse plant growing vegetables for the city, and my mom worked at one of the schools. That was a little embarrassing as kid when your mom is your teacher, but I suppose it also made it more comfortable in way. 

I got through school with decent grades, but history classes were my er, special interest, I suppose. While I was often distracted trying to get through math or workshop, I was always fascinated with the history of... myself, I guess? That sounds a bit narcissistic, let me rephrase.

Us Synths and organic people are vastly different physically, but we share so much in common. Little kid me was confused why I couldn't share my thermal mash with my friend, or why I couldn't eat any of his vegetables. It just didn't make any sense.

History classes are what shined lights on a lot of those early questions I had. Granted, why we ended up having our own versions of food was about the depth of the questions I had when I was that young, but I just felt... satisfied knowing about it, I guess. I latched onto it and I always had more questions. Those early history classes mostly illuminated the bond we ended up making with organic people, nice tale of friendship and mutual benefits. They didn't really go over anything else until middle and high school.

I think it was high school where I really started to hone in my interest in history, because that's when we learned about the Great Reset, and *why* Synths came around. Pretty heavy stuff, I can see why they wouldn't be teaching that so early.

Synths were originally a product of emergency, food was in short supply but resources were abundant, so they made us as a way to fulfill a need for labor but without cutting into the strained suppl..

\[...]

Alright alright, not a history lesson.

To boil it down, I learned in school that Synths were essentially made to help organics through tough times, and even though things are better now, that ancient history has stayed with us. I valued that knowledge being passed down to me, knowing where I came from and what my ancestors did to help carry that nature.

So owing to that history of being helpful, and my fondness *for* that history, I decided it would be what I focused on in my coming years. Ultimately I qualified as a Historical expert and volunteered to work at the Synths of the Outer Rim museum on Solus-14, a few dozen jumps away from the Sandevi system.

It's been where I've been for the rest of my life up to now, I want to say for... 6? 7 cycles? During that time, I've met a lot of the people I still talk to today. You might even call them friends!

To start, very early in my career in Solus, I had heard about a bar on an orbital station from one of the patrons in the museum. I don't really drink, but I had to know what an orbital bar was like, so I had asked them about it. It's called the Tickled Trout, and that's where I met the first of the people I'd call my friends! Tycho, another synth.

Me and Tycho were chatting and we learned what we do for a living. Turns out he goes out of system frequently for search and rescue, so running into him on an off day was fairly lucky. I told him I work at the local Synths museum, and it seemed like his eyes flashed up, must have been a history guru like me. So I invited him to drop by some time during my shift!

I showed him around the floor, told him about some historical details like the designs of the first Synths, and how that technology evolved with us. While I carried on and started rambling about how Synths socially adapted with picking up organic eating habits, he'd actually lagged behind talking to another patron.

Enter Arimah, she's the freelance captain and engineer on a science vessel of her own heading, I forget what it's called... If I had to guess, probably like Evergreen, or something. I'll need to ask her.

Anyway, Tycho and Arimah were chatting. They must have been hitting it off, but it's hard to remember and I'm probably bias because of current events. I approached to catch up with Tych0, and she introduced herself to me as well.

She had stopped at the museum to learn about how modules in Synth design worked, as I was told she's actually an android of sorts, so she was researching technologies for her own designs personal designs that she makes aboard her ship.

Ultimately because of the overlap we had in an interest with robotics, we ended up becoming friends as well. And *ultimately* ultimately, Tycho and Ari became closer and are actually engaged now! That was fun to see happen between the two of them, all because I brought Tycho to the museum.

The next person I met was actually you, I'm sure you remember that even though you're not very sentimental!

I met Reylow online over the system's colony network, we ended up randomly queued together playing some competitive holo game, pretty sure it was Take and Hold 2. I was pretty good for solo runs, and I had put about 100 hours into the newer co-op mode. But I think with you and I paired up we actually both got high scores, right?

\[...]

Yeah, so we ended up sticking it out for another few runs, and were in pretty good lockstep with how we played. You only communicated when it was important, and you were a lot more frugal with our tokens. When you got a good rifle with high energy capacity, you didn't like spending much more. Then I definitely spent what was left on extra rolls and attachments.

After you had clocked out for the evening, I'm pretty sure you were prepared to just move on and treat that as just a lucky day in random queue.

\[...]

Er, right, I forgot this was me talking to a camera, not you. So, I sent a friend request to Reylow after we had finished playing for the day because it really was lucky to run into someone you sync with that well. We linked back up during my off hours and got more runs in, and while Rey was pretty dialed in, I tried getting to know him during the relative downtime between holds.

I wouldn't say he was stubborn or reluctant to tell me anything, but definitely terse, or maybe surgical? Generally wasn't one for much conversation, just answered my questions as if they were like... write-ins. "Sometimes I write. I've lived on Solus-19 a couple years. No, I don't do anything else." Didn't elaborate much without me asking.

It was alright with me though, we still had a game to play so I was just steadily learning more about him. What I knew was that Reylow's a Protogen, hobbyist writer who was living on Solus-19 in an apartment on his own, just living in comfort and playing holo games to keep active. Sounded like where I'd be at if I didn't work at the museum.

Speaking of the museum, I invited him to drop by as well. Link up since he wasn't too far in the system, and maybe convince him to learn about some stuff about me in my "home environment" of sorts. He said "Well, I'm not doing anything else." I've come to learn his flippant answers are about as good as they come, so it was set. Next weekday he'd drop by.

We met up at the front door and I showed him around inside, while I was showing him around he would pause every now and then and write some things in his notebook while looking at displays. I figured hey, something to ask about! I showed some curiosity towards what you were writing, and all you said was "Ideas." Pretty much exactly how I knew him in the lobbies!

Terse and to the point, just answering what's asked of him. I'd certainly get used to it in the coming days, he really doesn't have any social mask to speak of.

I told Rey about myself, and what I do at the museum. I also gave him some of my usual Synth history spiels, and as far as I know he wrote those in his notebook too. He's a quiet listener, even though it seems like he's disinterested most of the time.

And I mean, what better evidence of being a quiet listener than listening to me ramble about my experiences for... How long have I been on record now? I haven't kept track.

Anywho, I've known Rey for a few cycles in Solus. I ended up convincing him to room with me in my S-14 plot since it seemed like a fun idea, and that's been the case for a few cycles now! We play local games now, sometimes I even convince him to play a board game.

I think half a cycle after I met Rey, a new neighbor had moved into the residential plot adjacent to mine. I had only noticed because when I looked out the window in the morning, seemingly overnight they had stocked the open area out front with a ton of old-fashioned, stacked clay pots. And there were a few construction helper drones assembling a small greenhouse, like one my dad had worked in.

Whoever this new neighbor was, it looks like they had some big plans, and a fondness for growing stuff. I'd very soon figure that out for sure, because that sunrise while I was looking out the window seeing all this new work, someone rung at my door!

Turns out they're a Sergal named Tulip, and she introduces herself as the new neighbor. I'd figure out how fitting the name was later! She invited me over for some tea, and as sweet as the gesture was I don't think she knew I couldn't drink it. Regardless, I thought it'd be a great opportunity to get to know them.

As soon as I entered her house, my sensors were blasted by all sorts of sprouting pollens and scents. Super colorful interior already as well, all these paintings of flowers I'd never seen before from systems all over the galaxy. It smelled more fragrant than the times I visited dad's greenhouse!

\[...]

Alright, sure he only grew food, but it's a lot of plants is what I'm saying, you know? It's a good sense of comparison. At least I think so.

So, she has this wonderful seating area next to a window facing her soon-to-be greenhouse garden, just next to her kitchen where she already had her tea ready. She suggested me and her sit down to have our proper introductions, which was of course a great idea!

She told me she moved here to Solus from pretty far away. Like, a few thousand jumps far. That's about half a Solus cycle just in transit! She's from a fringe colony on the Outer Rim society's edge, and wanted to see more in her life than the wheat and vegetable fields she grew up with. Her small colony was predominantly other Sergals, so she didn't expect to feel so tall meeting others! Apparently she's relatively short for her kind, though I certainly wouldn't have been able to tell.

She said there was very little synthetic life on the fringes, due to the power supply not being as abundant. She'd never been so surrounded by as much advanced technology, let alone technological life like me. It really must have been an interesting experience going deeper into the central colonies and seeing all this modern stuff! So she was eager to ask me a bunch of questions, and of course I was happy to oblige.

What is my life like, what it was like growing up, IF I grew up, lots of interesting questions to answer! You know how much this is my field, after all. She was halfway through asking me what my diet was like, then she stalled for a couple seconds- I think she realized right there that I couldn't drink the tea she put on the table for me. 

\[...]

Well, I didn't want to seem rude! Usually every organic person knows that we can't usually drink the same stuff, and I didn't want to undermine her intelligence by like, correcting her, you know? She was just being polite!

When she realized, she started apologizing profusely, asked me what I'd like to drink, if she should run to the market to purchase anything, I had to slow her down and say I rarely drink as a Synth!

\[...]

I mean yeah, in *hindsight* I should have told her from the moment she offered, but it's, you know, hindsight. I couldn't have known ahead of time she was from the fringes. Also this was like 5 cycles ago! At least it made for an eventful first interaction, right?

Anyway, she seemed to calm down a bit after I said I didn't need anything. So to bring it back, I properly introduced myself, and told her about what I get up to in the city. Mostly working at the museum giving lessons on Synth culture and history, and filling in my downtime with browsing the colony network and playing holos, as you would know.

She said teaching history at a museum was interesting! I wholly agreed, and said it's more preferable to leading a classroom because I can teach some facts about Synth history to more people than just kids. Plus I like looking at the exhibits too, after all.

After that, I asked her why she'd choose live at a bustling colony city like the Solus system. Because looking at it on a sightseeing vacation is one thing, but opting to leave that calm farming life on the fringes is another, right? That's a big move!

Turns out the answer was two-fold, an established colony system has a lot of new people to meet over a longer time, and she wanted to pick somewhere far enough so she could enjoy seeing the galaxy during transit. And from what she told me, it sounded like it worked! She said she had a lot of stories to tell from her transit, back then I think I said I didn't have time to hear them all right away though.

You should ask her yourself, Rey! I'm sure Tulip would love to offer you her time, you know how she is.

\[...]

Ah, "I'm considering it." he says. I've gauged some interest from you, at least! Make sure you get her to tell you about her transit, I remember those stories being good.

\[...]

Fine, fine, I'll carry on. But I won't forget to remind you.

Her big interest for gardening was fairly obvious, so I thought I'd peer into that next. I panned around the kitchen she had already furnished, and really I cannot state enough just how many pictures of flowers she had up. I think I could only name every 15th flower on her wall across her whole house.

So I asked, what could she tell me about the flowers around? I hadn't seen most of them in my life, they must be from systems further than I'd ever been! And that was an easy guess, but she had lots to say about just the ones in arms reach of the table we were at. Granted at like six and a half foot, she could reach a lot more than I could.

You can imagine she was excited to share an interest like that, so she happily started pointing at some photos and named off some details of them. Using named way out of my field, "That one's a Hyrofilipicantha, it only blooms at night and glows a beautiful cyan! And that one's a blooming Juliene Ignis, they sprout in pairs coincidentally for their binary star system! And that's"

That general idea. I'm not even sure if I got those right. I think the only one I can confidently recall is her namesake, the Tulipa... guess-nerry-anna, I think. She just called it a Tulip, apparently it's a super old kind of flower preserved from before the reset. She said her family kept the preserved seedlings across generations!

The particular story around that was really interesting, keeping a seed from before the great reset is almost unbelievable. I was shocked to hear artifacts from that era were still around! Well worth asking her about it, Rey.

\[...]

So yeah, all in all, it was a pleasant introduction to the new neighbor. Tulip's lovely to chat with, and of course I still have tea with her at least once a week; and she knows what I can actually drink now, too! Guess that's not a mistake you make twice for her, hah.

She's also gotten her greenhouse built since then, and all her galaxy-spanning flowers in various degrees of bloom and color. It's a lovely spot, if a bit warm in there. Wouldn't go in if you have allergies though, who knows what reaction you'd have to a flower several hundred stars away.

\[...]

Oh alright, so you think that about does it then?

{END RECORDING}
{Save video to file as...}
{Decc_Biography_Reference}
{Saved!}

With a click at the base, the holocorder snaps from the tripod it was mounted on. "Yeah, that will do." Reylow snaps closed the preview screen, and kneels down to start folding up and store the novice gear he brought.

"You know, that was a lot of fun, Rey." Decc stands up from their desk chair. "I know you write, but I didn't take you for a filmographer! What's this for, anyway?"

"It's reference material." In standard fashion, Reylow didn't look up from loading his backpack while answering the question in the least elaborate way he could.

Decc leans down a bit, playfully asking "And you're not gonna tell me what for, are you?"

After stuffing the holocorder in a pouch, Reylow turns and looks up, "Well, I know you're patient enough to find out, aren't you?"

A hearty nose exhale. Reylow's brewing something, and Decc's definitely intrigued, so then all there is to do is wait. "Yeah, I suppose I am!"

"Wonderful." Reylow collapses the tripod and stuffs it into the main pouch, zipping it shut after. "Your shift is soon, by the way."

Decc blinks. "Wait.. What time is it?" A faint light slides into view from inside Decc's visor. "Ah son of a bitch, how long were we recording?"

Reylow lets out a light chuckle through his words, "Over an hour, honestly. You talk a lot." Reylow stands up and slings his backpack over his shoulder. "Not too late though, you could always eat on the way."

"Damn it, I haven't eaten as well, you're right!" Decc grabs their visor in a brief bout of anguish, "Ech! I have to get ready." and opens up their wardrobe. "Keep me posted on what you do with that recording, at least. And get outta here, I have to change my modules!" 

"Yeah, yeah. I'll put an aerogel bar next to the door for you, as a courtesy." Reylow turns to leave Decc's office, and turns his head to give a backhanded wave; "See you after work."