I feel compelled to point out that as an exploration AI Vita would probably prefer to do the scouting herself.
I mean, yes? But once the navigator bean grows up, we'll have far, far, far more than Zantris available to explore.
Ultimately, the concept is a combination of humanitarian effort, helping Denva to take clay (or at least soft power) in bulk before any oppositional or hostile actors can so they have a chance of not getting squashed like a bug down the line, and getting Vita a proper list of quests for us to pick from.
As it is right now, their primary industrial center and core civilian population is on the line every time somebody pays a visit, with no forewarning.
From a 4x perspective, the perspective Neablis had in mind when he created this quest, it's absolutely essential for scaling up to a point where they, and by extension we, can survive - when the day comes that we've made a determined enemy that can outmass us, a friendly Sector that has spent the entire time we've been exploring making numbers go up that we can run to will make all the difference.
From an RPG perspective, the one this quest is kinda turning into instead, Denva is our Tavern. The place where we repair, rearm, buy and learn new shit, and find out about new problems and happenings that an adventurous AI and her crew might want to involve themselves in.
It's just, we're the ones building that tavern.
Exploration isn't going away. But once Denva is able to spread beyond their home system and Vita is able to communicate with them in real time, we basically enter a different phase of the game where part of our decisionmaking is usually going to include how we can leverage their reach, resource, and intel.
Probably won't be the last change in scope, either.
