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“Where is your omni?” Halmoris asked. “You should have your omni in case you become chilled. Maybe one of your owners should go get it.”

“The food should be here soon,” Gislorum said. “I personally talked to the chef about what you could safely consume.”

Milsorum pulled something out of his pouch and rolled it to me. “I thought you might like this.”

I was overwhelmed by everyone talking over each other but the ball was a solid thing I could touch, so I automatically reached out and picked it up. Everyone went silent, and I looked around to find all the Talins in the room, including the mavens, staring at me.

“I’m sorry,” I said, dropping the ball back to the floor.

Purrs and rumbles of amusement filled the air.

"It's a gift for you," Milsorum said quickly. “It can't hurt you.”

I picked the ball back up. “Um, thank you.” When Milsorum and everyone kept staring at me as if expecting something, I looked over my shoulder at Tolly. “Is there a different way I should be saying thank you? You guys say thank you for your gift of time and skill. Does that apply here?”

He sounded a soft negative rattle. “No, that response isn't appropriate for these circumstances. You're holding a puzzle toy. The goal is to separate all the pieces.”

They were waiting for me to do a trick; that's why they were staring. I turned my attention to the ball in my hand.

I could see several obvious seams but didn't try to pry them apart. Instead I watched the light pattern appearing across the surface. It took me a few minutes before I figured out the timing. Counting off, I touched in the same spot and pattern as the lights. That did the trick, and a slice popped off.

Pulling the slice free, I looked at the new area for the next clue. It was a simple progression puzzle. To complete the progression I pressed on each of the remaining slices six times, one at a time. It worked on the fourth slice. Now that I had two slices free, I noticed another pattern.

With gentle pressure, I moved all the slices together. That made them all fall apart to reveal the core that held them together. The core unfurled to reveal a piece of candy.

Huh, that was interesting.

“Well done!” Milsorum cheered with a loud, excited rattle.

The sudden sound made me jump, and I dropped the core and the candy into my lap.

“Don't be so loud!” Gislorum snapped at Milsorum. “She's still delicate. She only left medical earlier this rotation.”

Milsorum sounded a rumble of agreement. “I apologize, Human Opal. I was simply thrilled you figured out the puzzle so quickly. You're a very clever human.”

I was sure the puzzle was a child's toy. Maybe a Talin child could’ve done it faster, but they'd be familiar with these types of puzzles.

Okay, now I was feeling defensive about a nonexistent child. I had to remember these guys thought I was an idiot, but Tolly and the crew knew the truth.

“That was fun,” I said, which wasn't a lie. It had been entertaining until I got the demeaning verbal pat on the head.

Picking up the core, I fit it all back together. Once it was in a ball shape, I rolled it back over to Milsorum. “That was fun, thank you.”

He sounded a rumble of amusement. “Do you wish to play now?” he asked and rolled it back to me.

I bit back a sassy retort and rolled it over to Osluma. She sounded an excited rattle and rolled it back to me.

After the ball had been passed around, I thought one of them would end the game, but they seemed eager to keep it going. They gave little excited rattles every time I received the ball again, as if cheering me on.

“Do you guys play like this with your kids?” I asked. That would explain why they were having so much fun.

Bomorum sounded a negative rattle. “We don’t raise our own children; that would be barbaric for a species as advanced as we are.”

His words caught me by surprise. “What?”

“Humans take great pride in raising their children within their community. They wouldn’t understand trusting child-raising professionals,” Jorlis said to Bomorum. “You should explain.”

Bomorum sounded a rumble of agreement. “Millennia ago, our leadership realized it would be much better if we had our children raised in a cresh, surrounded by highly trained staff. It allows us to focus on pursuing our careers during the solars when children are at their most needy.”