The Pods
They do not mind Charles' "security sweep" although perhaps they see no real option. Dr. Toh sends along a couple of his.. whatever they are... to accompany him. It seems odd, with Charles in full suit ambling along with the two beings in nothing more than light utility clothes, very simple clothing not meant for anything more than light use in comfortable environments.
The whole laboratory is about the size of six train cars- a small freighter could move the whole thing, assuming it could be easily extricated from its current position. From what Charles can see, it's exactly that- modular, so the pieces could easily be separated, and the whole thing hauled off. The modules are linked alongside a central corridor, itself a modular component. It looks like something typical of the many, many habitats scattered across known space, built from a menu of common parts in a factory in a core system, dragged out here and set up.
Oddly, there doesn't seem to be much devoted to science, at least, the sort of thing Charles expects Science to look like, not being an expert on whatever is being studied here. There is one section that looks like a medical facility. Maybe more serious than the typical sick bay of a small ship, but less than even a minor hospital.
Much of the place looks like a school, especially one for younger children. There are classrooms, lounges, activity and recreation areas.
Charles's companions are curious about him, and ask questions, like "What are you looking for?" and "Do you like this?" and "Does this make you happy?". They seem uninterested in the equipment he is using, but very interested in his emotional state.
Toh, meanwhile, invites Liliana to the habitat, deciding that Abe is right- if she is in charge, she ought to be here.
He has his charges start on the tea, which, apparently, is prepared the "planetary way" and not as one might expect on a distant outpost: no powder, but real tea leaves to be infused into hot water. He seems to consider this to be important. He takes some time to oversee the beings as they set to work, and he is very proud when they do it correctly.
"You must know that communications with it has been a near impossible task," he says to Florence as they wait on Liliana and tea. You may also know that in the vicinity of some of the Kayon settlements there have been strange sightings of creatures, including humanoids, that vanished when searchers tried to find them in the forest. I came to the conclusion, the Ecosentience was trying to learn about us. Approaching us on our scale, as we might use a tiny probe to investigate microbes. These were semi independent organisms- like our white blood cells, capable of independent action, but made for reconnaissance, not defense. They could gather experiences on our scale, with senses that mimicked ours, but their independent lives were very short. We've been evolving as independent organisms for billions of years, the Ecosentience was new to this and did not know how to keep them stable. They collapsed into dying biomass quickly, and were reabsorbed. In reabsorbing them, the Ecosentience would try to acquire some of their stored sensory memories. But it had so little to go on. Years, and it could not get it right. So we started to help."