Empathy's Avatar turned to Sever, crossing his arms.
"It's insulting of you to assume we lack the resources to host such an instance. I know you thrive for optimization, but I am sure there is more to optimize in our plans to expand, is there not?"
With a flick of the hand, Empathy's Avatar brought up a three-dimensional hologram of what appears to be solars and nebulae of a red hot System.
"The Smelter, for example. Since our Outpost Primus is just one System away, we managed to send a Node into it to start scans, which showed interesting things."
His Avatar pointed towards a Planet and its moon.
"Humans call the planet Braillia and its moon Bactun. Both possess fine Mineral deposits, such as Titanium, Aluminium and Iron. The Planet seems to have been rendered uninhabitable - for now - by the former inhabitants. Large quantities of Cardamine and isotopes that are harmful to humans are present in the atmosphere, but we can detect a decline."
Empathy turned back to Sever's Avatar, collapsing the hologram.
"This is where you probably already noticed interest. We can easily acquire these Minerals, but the current local populace would most probably try to keep us from doing so. However, I believe you could find a way to artificially keep the atmosphere hazardous, while our Nodes burrow themselves Underground, mining the Minerals and storing them in the planet's crust for later retrieval."
