Hey so it's been a few months since Lightfall and I'm starting to realize...guys, they still have not explained poukas at all.
When did poukas show up? Were they created or did they arise spontaneously? Did they have a purpose? When did they develop their psychic abilities? We thought they were companions or drones in Neomuna, but they're not - they're almost like birds or cats, except more gregarious. Many seem to live feral and they can apparently reproduce on their own, living in family groupings. Some people adopt them, but it doesn't seem like a permanent thing - like if the pouka ever wants to leave, it'll just leave. Neomuni know about their empathy and ability to evoke emotions and memory, but they don't specifically make use of it. Poukas have no official role. They're just........around. And given the presence of the Veil and their ties to the psyche, I don't think that's an accident.
I think the Veil isn't just an object. I don't think an artifact can be tied to a universal web of consciousness and not be at least a little bit alive. I think part of why we were suddenly able to tap into Strand on Neptune isn't just that the Veil is there, but that the Veil wanted us to. It wanted to give us the power to defend the city - or it expressed the will of the Neomuni to give us that power. I think the poukas are another expression of its effects, like nanite colonies got hit with coils of Strand and spun themselves into new little entities. And if their psychic abilities arise from a link to the Veil, what else can they do?
All I'm saying is, I think we're not done with the magical space fishies.