"That's largely how it's interpreted for civilizations that haven't achieved interstellar travel. Covert observation only. With civilizations that have interstellar abilities it gets more complicated. We try not to pressure them into compliance but given all the advantages we offer to Federation members there's unavoidable influence in those cases."

And how do you interpret that for universes in your computers, he wants to ask?

... but he's not going to say that.

"I'm sure you have a lot of people biting at the bit against the policy - both traders and altruists, just to start with... and if they're near someone outside the Federation, it'll only get more complicated; I don't see how anything like that could've been held to where I'm from."

"We have enough monitoring stations to track the movement of civilian ships through our space. At least at warp speed. Some Starfleet ships are equipped with systems to mask their warp signature but the technologies to do that are highly regulated and tend to be classified.

"There's still incidents that slip through the cracks though and sometimes Starfleet captains break the law and have to explain themselves to a board of inquiry. It doesn't happen often but it's one of the more common reasons for captains to be stripped of their rank and removed from Starfleet. Though just in general that doesn't happen very often."

Jerach nods thoughtfully.  "Not surprised Starfleet captains don't do it so often themselves.  Others, though..."

He shakes his head.  "Not that I'm thinking of doing it myself, at least until I get a much better picture of this Federation and I've talked with a lot more people aside from just you and walked around some cities or whatever you do here."

"It's a very old law and one that not everyone agrees with. And there are various exceptions some explicit in the law and more in the jurisprudence. You won't be particularly unusual if you end up opposed to it. Personally I don't have strong feelings toward either extreme but some of the ways people try to apply it get quite silly." 

He nods.  "Not surprised.  About you, or about the exceptions..."  Maybe he shouldn't have said that about her...?  Well, he guesses he'll see how she reacts to that.

"And what do the Federation's enemies think of that?  Oh, and - did you reach into my old universe to set up things like how we didn't have that rule?"

"Well they notice the exceptions so the mostly see us as hypocrites. Though they do also see it as a weakness to exploit and occasionally succeed at using it against us. As for your 'universe,'" her voice takes a slightly different tone when pronouncing the word, "It wasn't one of aspects I specified. Like I said I commissioned it from someone else and creative types get annoyed when you specify too much."

Jerach hadn't thought about using that term, and tries to hide his wince at her response.

"So... what now?  Sit and study and wait for the android body?  Or sit back and try to talk with people on the computer?"

"That's largely up to you. If there's people you want to talk to I can probably make that happen or if you want to take some time to yourself and do research that's fine too. I can also switch your current body to simulating what your new one will be like so you can get used to it. I have some compatibility layers written to make it feel more like you're used to but I'll leave it up to you how many of those you keep."

Jerach shivers.  It's a conscious act, but more consciously letting through his feelings.  "Please don't just leave me by myself here!  If this was a new planet, I'd be heading out soon as I could to see the city and talk with folks.  That's what I was doing in Alorica right before you grabbed me.

"Compatibility layers -" He frowns.  "Sure, why not?"

"Right, I forget sometimes that most people aren't as comfortable with solitude as I am. I'm inclined to be very blunt and straightforward so my first thought is to talk about your new body and all the little things that are optional for you now.

"The Soong type frame has a lot of ways it's designed to emulate humanity but even with the refinements that Data has researched and implemented there's still some substantial differences. The biggest one is that you'll be heavier. Around 130 kilos. You'll be more than strong enough to compensate but you'll need to be more careful where you put your weight. We tend to build things pretty durable so the main time that will matter is putting your weight on other people.

"And that brings up the obvious next bit: strength. Your peak strength is going to be a lot higher than you're used to, strong enough that one of the compatibility layers I made and recommended you use is to limit how much of that strength you can use.

"And... I'll stop there for questions or if you want a different topic."

Jerach keeps nodding with a bit of impatience.  "That should be convenient, unless I'm in a shuttle small enough for mass to matter.  But - anything else I need to know about it right now before I get those emulators and I can get more settled?"

He's never really felt that strongly tied to his current body... well, his past body?... though he faintly wonders if he might feel different when he's not in it anymore.

"I can switch you now." She taps on something invisible again. And it's immediately obvious that she did forget to mention something. He feels lighter or maybe smoother? Little bits of irritation or soreness he was probably just ignoring fade away and any physical tiredness he was feeling faded with it.

He is still breathing and he still has a heartbeat if he focuses on it. All the changes are small but they add up. At the edge of his attention there's also something else it's not quite like any sensation he's had before but the sort of awareness of what's nearby when his eyes are closed is the closest.