Telepathy existed in the Galaxy. The purest kind was mostly considered extinct (or fictional) along with the Jedi, but the more you travel, the more difference you see between species, that one's 'Hello' seems to another like magic. Cassian's least favorite example: Falleen communication included the conscious control of pheromones. If talking to a Falleen while Human, you not only couldn't understand that level of discourse, you wouldn't even know it was happening, and could be affected by it almost to the level of mind control.
The idea of a handheld device that could identify facts about a person—emotional state via microexpression, allegiance via insignia, etc—and then advise how to interact with them was also not too far fetched. None existed yet that was more (or even as) reliable as a sentient operative—be it organic or droid—but they could work surprisingly well, especially if you knew in advance what species and other likeliest settings you'd be dealing with. (Not that you could get facial expression from a stormtrooper, but they emoted a surprising amount from body language. That armor stood in for many lapses of training. And didn't hold up to it.)
The idea that a device could be psychic… that would seem laughable to Cassian, but it was a big Galaxy, he'd seen more of it than most, and the more he saw of it, the fewer things he would rule out.
So, those were fine… the question was, what could the paper possibly show that Cassian would buy as convincing the Troopers to obey this man in civvies in those outrageous circumstances, yet also show enough cracks to convince Cassian to trust him, at least not to kill on sight? Cassian knew the intricacies of these systems so well, his nature and his job was to interrogate everything and look through the layers…
Whatever he saw (if he saw anything at all), Cassian's eyes flickered from the paper back to the Doctor. Nothing about his stance or expression changed at all. (Including blaster aim.)
"You said 'this way'," said Cassian. "How did you know who I am, where I'd be, and where would you take me?"
no subject
The idea of a handheld device that could identify facts about a person—emotional state via microexpression, allegiance via insignia, etc—and then advise how to interact with them was also not too far fetched. None existed yet that was more (or even as) reliable as a sentient operative—be it organic or droid—but they could work surprisingly well, especially if you knew in advance what species and other likeliest settings you'd be dealing with. (Not that you could get facial expression from a stormtrooper, but they emoted a surprising amount from body language. That armor stood in for many lapses of training. And didn't hold up to it.)
The idea that a device could be psychic… that would seem laughable to Cassian, but it was a big Galaxy, he'd seen more of it than most, and the more he saw of it, the fewer things he would rule out.
So, those were fine… the question was, what could the paper possibly show that Cassian would buy as convincing the Troopers to obey this man in civvies in those outrageous circumstances, yet also show enough cracks to convince Cassian to trust him, at least not to kill on sight? Cassian knew the intricacies of these systems so well, his nature and his job was to interrogate everything and look through the layers…
Whatever he saw (if he saw anything at all), Cassian's eyes flickered from the paper back to the Doctor. Nothing about his stance or expression changed at all. (Including blaster aim.)
"You said 'this way'," said Cassian. "How did you know who I am, where I'd be, and where would you take me?"