Nox for the first time in a good while stood confused by the medbay doors while they tried to process why exactly the bat pony was currently straining in vain against the nano-fiber restrains that still bound her to the medical bed itself and screeched in the first place. She had seemed calm right up until the moment they had entered, not even approached, just entered. Even animals had logic associated with them, so did that mean they had bad interactions with other engi's in the past, and not just the slavers that had captured her?
As they silently pondered this the comms by their auditory sensors crackled to life with the worried voice of Veran. "Hey uh, everything good in there Nox? We can kinda hear whatever the hell that ear-piercing screech was. And I'm not entirely sure what I'm even seeing happening in there at the moment. Do you need me or even the both of us to come in? Teron certainly wouldn't hesitate to drop comms with the refueling platform we're at right now to help out."
Nox pondered this for just a moment before responding. "No, I do believe if either you or Teron came in it would have the opposite of the desired effect in the bat pony. I do believe after a bit of analysis the best solution at the current moment is simply patience. They cannot break their bindings, nor do they seem able to do any damage at all to anything important currently set up within the medbay. I will inform you and the captain when I have finished or if I require aid at any point in the future."
"Sounds good then buddy, I'll stand at the ready in that case."
"Affirmative." And with that comms went off while Nox enacted the tried and true method that hadn't failed them yet. Waiting until the right moment.
I could barely breathe as I stared at the terrifying metal thing standing in front of the door from underneath the medical bed I had awoken on. I had long since given up on trying to break or remove whatever my new bindings were that kept me tethered to the table, and while I knew that hiding under a bed where we could both plainly see each other wasn't exactly hiding me it was the best I could manage.
I stared at it with fear in my eyes as I wondered whenever it would begin... whatever in Tartarus it was going to do to me. And it simply stood there, menacingly. Never once shifting after the little bits of movement and strange noises it had made when it had initially entered. I wasn't exactly sure how long this had been going on when it moved once more, making a few more strange noises while it did.
I shrunk backward the moment it did, though it did not come for me. Rather it slowly made its way to a wall before somehow opening it up and just waiting there. Before I could wonder what the terrifying metal thing could possibly want a whirring sound came from the new opening in the wall and I flinched back as it grew steadily louder until it stopped when two strange bowls appeared in it.
It took them both with its strange appendages before it began to approach me with them. I panicked in an instant and I screamed again while once more attempting to run away from it, though just like every other attempt I failed. I looked back in terror expecting it to be right on top of me now to do whatever it was going to do to me only to find it had gone back to simply standing in front of the door. And laid right in front of the bed I'd been hiding under was now the two bowls it'd been carrying, one containing water and the other some paste that looked a lot like what my previous wardens had fed me.
I stared between the two bowls and the terrifying metal thing for a good minute as both my hunger and thirst made themselves clearly known to me. I could barely remember the last time I had eaten or drank something and however long I had been unconscious hadn't done me any favors. Eventually, I caved and I very slowly began to make my way to both of the bowls. It might've been given to me by a terrifying metal thing, but it hadn't done anything more than just that. Was it... friendly maybe? I took another look at the green screen where its face should've been and shuddered. Maybe it was, but that still didn't change the fact it was terrifying.
I tried to ignore the fact that the bowls being on the floor made me feel like I was just some animal or pet even if it was better than it just being dumped on the floor and went to the bowl of water first. And while I bent down to drink from it I realized something and paused. I was still tethered to the bed, but unlike before I was no longer bound. I was able to move however I wanted to as long as I didn't actually end up putting any strain on the new fabric restraints I had on me. Which in this case meant anything that didn't involve me moving too far away from the medical bed.
It was freeing in a way I had forgotten to move without considering those metal restraints, even if I couldn't particularly feel my wings still and wherever they had been still ached. With that in mind, I carefully picked up the bowl of water with my forehooves while precariously balancing on my hind legs before beginning to drink, still keeping a fearful eye on the terrifying metal thing while I did so. It might've been a small thing, but I at least felt a bit more like an actual pony drinking like this than I had in a long time.
Nox had impassionately watched as the terrified bat pony worked up the courage to approach the bowls of water and food they had laid out for it after Veran had delivered it to them. It was still odd how they were so fearful and how expressive their face was, especially their large eyes, but internally they were quite satisfied with what they had accomplished by simply using a bit of patience with her. And given some more time, they were confident that they could get them to stop being so skittish around them. At least they were until the bat pony did something completely unexpected and lifted up the bowl of water to drink from it.
Outwardly, of course, they didn't react. They had resolved themselves to move as little as possible while they were trying to get the bat pony used to their presence and they weren't about to stop just because they witnessed something truly unexpected. But inwardly, for the second time in short succession, they stood confused.
Why had the bat pony decided to drink from the bowl of water like that instead of just simply bending down and drinking straight from it like she had been seemingly about to do? How had she even managed to pull it off without dropping the bowl as well? It was almost like she had done something like that before but with how those metal restraints had bound her before they had exchanged them for Federation regulation restraints it was severely doubtful to be something she had learned while with those slavers, much less able to do so naturally in the first place. So why...
And then it hit Nox, a realization that seemed incredibly far-fetched and would upgrade the priority to identify that slavers ship's faction by magnitudes. It would bring it to nearly the same level of priority as dealing with the rebels themselves, and the Federation was at war with them at the current moment. But it was one they needed to perform a rudimentary test to determine the validity of as soon as possible, no matter how unlikely it actually was. It explained so much about her actions thus far if it was true, even if it would make everything far more complicated at the same time.
Nox pondered for just a moment on how to test their suspicions before deciding on something simple. A test of their self-awareness. It was far from foolproof by itself but if she passed combined with some of the things she'd been showing before... Well, the captain would be the one making that decision.
They slowly made their way to detach one of the many non-essential monitors in the medbay. The moment they did so the bat pony darted away in fear. In an instant she was back to being under the table, abandoning the bowl of food they had been about to take from. Nox paid this no mind as they did so before recalibrating the pad into the image they wanted it to show. An image of the simple constellation she had on both sides of her flank that had been taken while she was unconscious and in treatment before they changed it into a completely different constellation. It was a harder version of the test since it wasn't exactly a picture of her though if she failed this one they'd just see if they could pass when it was a full-body picture of them.
With a slow motion, Nox crouched down while they turned the pad over to face her. The bat pony's face twisted from just fear into a combination of fear and confusion at this. It was clear they did not recognize this. Nox then changed the image back into a picture of the constellation on her flank. She paused for a moment before her eyes widened and she looked back to her flank for just a moment before looking back. She had passed.
Nox very slowly stood up before going back to in front of the door before they activated the comms, contacting the captain. "Captain, a matter of great import has come up and by Federation regulation, you are required to make a decision about this now."
Teron's voice crackled back over the comms after a few moments. "Oh Nox, did something happen with the bat pony? Do you need us-"
"Captain, I do not need you or Veran to come into the medbay, I need you to make a priority decision. I apologize if you are still in negotiations with the refueling station but this is as I said, a matter of great import."
Teron paused for just a moment before a click came over, "Hey, I apologize about this but something big just came up in my ship and I need to handle it now. I'll hail you once more when the matter has been resolved." Another click came over the comms before he talked once more. "Okay, I've put the refueling platform on hold for the moment. What happened?"
Nox made sure clearly enunciate the words they were about to say. "I believe the bat pony is no simple animal. They are almost certainly a sapient creature and a decision needs to be made."