That ship is the GCU (General Contact Unit) Ethics Gradient, a member piloted by a Mind, a fully sentient, independent, super-intelligent computer. A few steps beyond computers, actually; memory bytes are stored on a subatomic level. The Mind is a member of the Culture, a society run almost entirely by these Minds. The Ethics Gradient and I have been conversing, and there is actually an emergency situation here... I'll send you over to the Ethics Gradient, and everything will be explained to you there.
interlevel teleports