I see. [ It sounds more than a little weird to Jim, but it's a world like any other, he figures. Not every place works like the Earth he knows, and people find their own ways to survive, rather than be completely wiped out. That instinct to live, at least, doesn't surprise or shock Jim. It's impressive, if anything, that in the conditions she's described to him so far, they've managed to keep going.

That kind of perseverance will never cease to amaze him. ]

Too bad deep space travel isn't an option where you're from. [ Granted, it'd still mean leaving their home world, but at least people would have much better chances of surviving.

The sudden tension that takes over both her stance and her voice doesn't go by unnoticed, and Jim looks a little caught off-guard, but not particularly taken aback. He's not really here to argue, though, so he doesn't quite answer in kind, even if he does still speak his mind. ]

Jealousy still is an emotion. [ And if that particular autoreiv was capable of it, then it stands to reason all autoreivs might be capable of both feeling and expressing other, even deeper and more complex, emotions. ] Not that I presume to know. It's your world, not mine. But I believe that anything capable of independent thought is capable of developing a conscience, and feelings too, eventually. I hope that'll be the case in my world, if and when artificial intelligence becomes a reality.