"What? What are you doing? Unhand me!" The white haired woman shouts as the guards seize her. The blonde scientist rolls her eyes, seemingly more willing to cooperate, while the non-human doesn't speak, terrified.
"We've linked him up to a neural interface." The blonde explains. "This is ancient tech, made by ancient humans to give them almost complete control over the planet. It's weather, the speed of its rotation, the speed of its orbit around the local star. We've been studying the technology, trying to figure out how to reproduce it." She sighs. "Sadly, this tech was built for people with psionic power that dwarfs even the greatest modern psionics. Ancient humans were simply in a different league." She points to the man bound in the center. "Because of that, we had to compensate. We found a non-human with remarkable latent psionic potential, but it still wasn't enough. Hence, this." She points to the tubes.
"They've been hurting my brother." The non-human woman says. "Killing him with this...thing. They told me they could help him, fix the damage his overpowered psionics were inflicting on his brain. Instead, they did this to him."
The scientist ignores the sister. "As for the inhabitants, no, this planet was abandoned when we found it."