Ra'a'mah
Baroness
Ra'a'mah listened with quiet interest, giving a small nod as Novac explained the problem. Building homes was comparatively simple. Keeping an entire settlement supplied, maintained, and economically viable year after year was where the real challenge began.
"Crystals and raw materials can give you somewhere to start, but I wouldn't build your economy around exporting finite resources if preservation is important to you. Eventually you find yourself in the unfortunate position of needing to damage the thing you're trying to protect just to keep paying for its protection."
Her attention briefly wandered toward the activity taking place throughout the facility around them. "You have something potentially more valuable than minerals, though. The droids themselves. They don't need sleep, can develop highly specialized skills, and in many cases were literally designed to perform work that organics require years of training to master. Repairs, engineering, fabrication, programming, restoration. Even remote technical services could bring credits into your settlement without requiring you to continually pull resources out of Velari."
At the mention of the Farworlds Alliance, a faint smile touched her features. "Having the Farworlds to learn from certainly gives you somewhere to turn when you encounter problems you haven't faced before. The Protectorate operates on a similar principle in some respects. Independent worlds and organizations cooperating because there are things none of us can reasonably accomplish alone."
She tilted her head slightly toward him as they continued through the facility. "You don't have to limit yourself to one example, either. Look at what the Farworlds do well. Look at what the Protectorate does well. Look at what everyone does badly, because sometimes those are the more valuable lessons." A quiet chuckle escaped her. "Then take whatever actually makes sense for Velari and ignore the rest."
Her gaze moved briefly toward one of the nearby droids going about its work before returning to Novac. "You don't need to know exactly what Velari will become yet. Just be careful that in trying to give these droids a home, you don't make every decision for them about what that home should be. Give them the opportunity to help answer that question themselves." Her expression warmed slightly. "You might find they have ideas for sustaining it that neither of us would ever think of."
Novac Lyrikal
"Crystals and raw materials can give you somewhere to start, but I wouldn't build your economy around exporting finite resources if preservation is important to you. Eventually you find yourself in the unfortunate position of needing to damage the thing you're trying to protect just to keep paying for its protection."
Her attention briefly wandered toward the activity taking place throughout the facility around them. "You have something potentially more valuable than minerals, though. The droids themselves. They don't need sleep, can develop highly specialized skills, and in many cases were literally designed to perform work that organics require years of training to master. Repairs, engineering, fabrication, programming, restoration. Even remote technical services could bring credits into your settlement without requiring you to continually pull resources out of Velari."
At the mention of the Farworlds Alliance, a faint smile touched her features. "Having the Farworlds to learn from certainly gives you somewhere to turn when you encounter problems you haven't faced before. The Protectorate operates on a similar principle in some respects. Independent worlds and organizations cooperating because there are things none of us can reasonably accomplish alone."
She tilted her head slightly toward him as they continued through the facility. "You don't have to limit yourself to one example, either. Look at what the Farworlds do well. Look at what the Protectorate does well. Look at what everyone does badly, because sometimes those are the more valuable lessons." A quiet chuckle escaped her. "Then take whatever actually makes sense for Velari and ignore the rest."
Her gaze moved briefly toward one of the nearby droids going about its work before returning to Novac. "You don't need to know exactly what Velari will become yet. Just be careful that in trying to give these droids a home, you don't make every decision for them about what that home should be. Give them the opportunity to help answer that question themselves." Her expression warmed slightly. "You might find they have ideas for sustaining it that neither of us would ever think of."
Novac Lyrikal