Saru furrowed a brow again, thinking over what he'd heard.
"2017... and forty-thousand years in the future. So this anomaly transcends space and time as we know it, the past and the future colliding... This does not bode well, I can only imagine," he said. Saru blinked in confusion at Gakupo's later words, but after Sheila's response and Gakupo's sudden decision to move on, he decided against inquiring what the newcomer had said, at least for the time being.
As the conversation moved on from there, Saru took pause for another moment, before finally speaking again.
"Perhaps we should... take this to the captain's ready room. If you'll follow me," the alien simply said, turning around and leading the four, along with Burnham if she felt inclined to follow, into the aforementioned ready room, located in a door to the side of the bridge.
The room was relatively serene and peaceful, completely empty except for them. It was a small space, perfectly akin to a private office or cubicle. Walking behind the desk, Saru began opening the shelves, digging through them, multitasking between that and speaking again.
"To answer your question, the Prime Directive is one that is built off the principle of... non-interference. You see, I, along with this ship's whole crew, am one of many Starfleet expeditions set out with the intention of exploring the greater galaxy to seek out and discover new civilizations and strange new worlds, to learn more about the space in which we live. However, with that, we have... regulations put into place; the Prime Directive, the single most important philosophy of such an expedition," Saru explained, eventually drawing what looked like an electronic tablet,
"To interfere with the natural development of a civilization in any way, be it exposing them to our technology if it is light years ahead of theirs or even the knowledge that there are other inhabited worlds and so on, would be a grievous transgression. I believe humans often comparing it to their own metaphor... playing God. It is akin to exposing a caveman to a spaceship. They were not destined to witness such a thing, and to display it before him would be to risk altering the process of his race's evolution."
"In a way, that directive can be applied to this scenario. Though it's... not exactly the case with this crew, I am sure that this must be your first experience traveling into another dimension, and to that end, even if it might have been an inadvertent gesture, it is likely that we are the ones responsible for this. In other words, we've ended up interfering in your natural development. The best we can do right now is try our best to escape from this empty space we're in right now, and then from there, figure out how to return you all home as swiftly as possible," he continued, before pausing again. Taking a moment, he walked in front of the desk again and handed the tablet to Sheila. If she were to look into it, she would find that it was a touch-screen tablet, and the screen opened up to some sort of directory.
"These are the extensive Starfleet General Orders and Regulations. Peruse them at your leisure if you wish, but I assure you, we bear no ill will toward you."
"In any case, I'm sure this is... much to take in, and indeed, I apologize, especially in the event that our mycelial drive turned out to be the cause of this displacement," he said, bowing his head briefly in a formal manner.
@Atomic Knight @York @Yun Lee @Josh @Minerva
