"Where I am from, it's my job to go and explore the unknown," he explained without giving specifics. That could tend to muddy things with people he didn't know all that well, so for the time he tended to keep it vague. Having to explain star travel was becoming a nightmare, so he had switched to this new system.

"To do that, you rather need an open mind," he chuckled. "And non-human doesn't bother me in the least. Where I am from there are plenty of non-humans. I even work with a variety of them." So no worries, Inessa. No judgement due to the shape of your ears, though he might judge you because clearly your dog is attention starved. Or he's just a big baby and attention hog. Could go either way at this point.