order order in the council High councelor Zar vex's Voice boomed through the Grand chamber but for once not a single representative paid attention I watched from my elevated research pod as chaos unfolded below a site I never thought I'd witness in the usually pristine Halls of the galactic Council my name is Dr Nexus brigh chief xenobiologist of the galactic science Division and I'm about to tell you how I watched 47 space fairing civilizations collapse in less than a standard solar rotation the death toll on centor Prime has reached 9 billion a tentacled quarian diplomat shrieked
their color-shifting membrane flashing warning patterns of deep crimson and black our atmospheric processors can't keep up with the corpse disposal the hive mind of beta reticuli has gone silent another voice called out trembling three trillion individual Consciousness points just gone I tapped my neural interface bringing up the latest data streams the numbers were well calling them catastrophic would be like calling a supernova a minor light show Dr brigh high counselor vex's voice cut through my analysis your report now I cleared my throat my secondary breathing bladders inflating with nervous energy the entire Council chamber all
thousand plus representatives from across the Galaxy turned their various sensory organs toward me the pressure of their gazes made my bioluminescent patches pulse erratically distinguished members of the council I began my voice steadier than I felt what we're dealing with is unprecedented in Galactic history the pathogen which we're designating as Omega X appears to be some form of ancient virus but it's not just any virus it's artificially engineered the chamber erupted again a meelon representative's metallic exoskeleton rattled in distress engineered by whom that's the fascinating part I continued pulling up a holographic display the virus
contains markers that dated to approximately 65 million standard years ago for perspective that's roughly when the dominant species of Earth humans whom we've yet to contact were still small furry creatures hiding from giant reptiles we don't need a history lesson Dr brigh snapped Ambassador Lyra Thorne of the salarian Collective her crystalline form refracted light in agitated patterns we need Solutions the virus's structure is unlike anything in our databases I pressed on enlarging the Hologram it appears to have been designed to lie dormant until specific conditions are met those conditions the development of faster than light
travel technology the silence that followed was deafening even the normally chattery hive mind Representatives stopped their Perpetual Quant Quantum vibrations are you suggesting high counselor Vex spoke slowly her forearms gripping her Podium that someone engineered a virus to activate only when species reached a certain technological threshold exactly I switched to another display the virus piggybacks on the quantum wake of FTL drives every time a ship jumps to FTL it spreads the virus further it's been dormant in space rocks ancient debris and planetary crust for millions of years our development of FTL technology essentially woke it
up but why now a voice called from the back we've had FTL for centuries critical mass I explained the virus needed a certain density of FTL signatures across the Galaxy to activate fully with the recent expansion of the outer rim colonies and the establishment of the quantum Highway Network we finally hit that threshold high counselor vex's scales had taken on a pale sickly hue canid be stopped I hesitated in my 300 years of scientific service I'd never had to deliver news this bad the virus affects every known species differently but the end result is the
same total genetic collapse within days of exposure it's already present in every FTL capable system conservative estimates suggest that within 30 standard days 99.9% of all space fairing life in the Galaxy will be I couldn't finish the sentence I didn't need to what about quarantine someone shouted too late I replied the virus has achieved quantum entanglement it's simultaneously present everywhere FTL technology has ever been used even if we shut down all FTL travel now we'd only be slowing the inevitable the chamber descended into pandemonium again I watched as Representatives began making emergency calls to their
home worlds their faces contorting in expressions of grief and horror as they receive received updates on the spreading Devastation high counselor Vex raised all four arms her voice cutting through the chaos Dr bright you mentioned Earth earlier what about pre-ftl species that's actually the next phase of my report I said bringing up a new set of data we've detected something unusual there's one system in the Galaxy where the virus appears to be present but not causing harm a system we've been monitoring for potential first Contact for the past 50 Earth years the sa system Vex
breathed yes I confirmed zooming in on the familiar blue green planet and specifically its dominant species humans they're the only ones who seem to be completely immune the chamber erupted once again but this time with a different energy hope desperation and fear mixed together in a cacophony of voices and emotions Dr bright high counselor vex's voice voice was quiet but carried throughout the chamber how quickly can we establish first contact with Earth I looked at my data streams one more time watching as the death toll numbers continue to rise across the Galaxy given the circumstances
high counselor I don't think we have time for traditional contact protocols she nodded grimly assemble a team you have unlimited resources find out why they're immune and do it quickly she turned to address the full Council May whatever gods are species believe in have mercy on us all as the chamber descended into chaos once again I began compiling my research team roster Humanity was about to get a very abrupt introduction to Galactic Society ready or not I just hoped they were as exceptional as our preliminary studies suggested the fate of all space fairing life now
depended on it I watched from the observation deck of the medical frigate Phoenix Dawn as another Colony went dark the brilliant purple rings of Novara 7 once teeming with mining installations and orbital habitats now served as a graveyard for Millions sir Lieutenant Nova Chan's Voice crackled through my neural interface the crystalline Collective has fallen their entire civilization just shattered I closed my eyes adding another species to my mental death toll the crystalline Collective beings of pure silicon Consciousness who had survived the death of their own son now extinct their crystalline forms crumbling to dust as
the virus somehow disrupted their lattice structure logit I replied my voice horse from exhaustion time to Total systemic failure four standard days from first infection Nova's voice was clinical detached we had all become numb to the numbers faster than the meelon collapse the meelon that had been particularly horrifying a species of cybernetic beings who had long ago transferred their ious into mechanical bodies we thought they would be immune instead we watched as the virus adapted converting their Quantum processors into viral replication centers their entire species went berserk their AI cores corrupted beyond recognition we had
to neutralize their worlds with Quantum scramblers destroying billions of years of accumulated knowledge director bright a young aquilan burst onto the observation deck his water breathing apparatus we ING with exertion The Hive minds of sector 7 they're attempting something desperate I pulled up the Feed The Hive mindes in their Infinite Wisdom or infinite foolishness had attempted to merge all their remaining healthy individuals into one massive Consciousness their theory was that a unified mind might have better chances at fighting the infection they were wrong the virus spread through their merged Consciousness like wildfire through dry grass
three billion Minds screaming in unified Agony then silence just silence add it to the report I muttered Nova what's our current species survival projection at current infection rates she paused running the numbers 0.01% chance of any FTL capable species surviving the next 60 days except except the humans I finished any progress on the emergency Conta protocols Ambassador Lyra Thorne is leading the advanced team they're approaching Saul system now using low energy Quantum drives to minimize viral spread I nodded turning my attention to the medical data streaming across my vision the virus was proving to be
even more ingenious than we initially feared it adapted to each species uniquely always finding the perfect way to unravel their biology the shape-shifting morphans the virus locked them into their base form before dissolving their molecular bonds the energy beings of the photonic Confluence their light simply went out like candles in a Cosmic Wind even the ancient time Walkers who could perceive multiple temporal Dimensions couldn't escape the virus somehow infected them across their entire temporal spread past and future simultaneously sir Nova interrupted my dark musings the quantum defense grid around centor Prime just went offline automated
systems are detecting by the void I looked up at the main display centor Prime Jewel of the quarian people was burning the virus had mutated again somehow gaining the ability to trigger massive genetic detonations in infected populations the entire planet looked like it was covered in bioluminescent funeral PES how many on centor Prime I asked not really wanting to know the answer 12 billion Nova whispered it was a refugee Center they they were trying to help the irony was bitter every attempt to save lives had only spread death faster Refugee ships became plag ships rescue
missions became infection vectors the more we tried to help each other the faster we died update from Earth Mission Nova reported her professional tone cracking slightly they're about to enter the solar system embassador Thorne says she says she can already feel the virus changing her crystallin structure she doesn't think she'll survive to make contact I slammed my fist against the observation window my bioluminescent patches flaring with anger and grief tell them to broadcast the first Contact message anyway if they start to fail they should initiate emergency landing protocols the humans will find them sir what
if the humans aren't actually immune what if we're about to infect the only safe species in the Galaxy I stared out at the stars watching as another distress Beacon went dark somewhere in the distance the virus is already there Nova it's everywhere the humans are either immune or they're already dead we're about to find out which the ship's AI chimed in with another update the quantum archives of the galactic Library were being infected centuries of knowledge corrupting into nonsense as the virus somehow affected even our data storage systems this wasn't just an Extinction event this
was the end of everything we had built everything we had learned everything we were unless the humans really were as special as our preliminary data suggested the Galaxy was about to become very quiet very dark and very empty Nova I said quietly start broadcasting all our data toward Earth everything we know about the virus about our species about our history if we don't survive this someone needs to know what happened here yes sir she paused it's been an honor director brigh I watched as another world went dark adding its people to the growing Cosmic silence
the honor was mine Lieutenant the honor was mine the crash landing of Ambassador Thorne's ship in a place called Central Park wasn't exactly the first Contact scenario we had planned for the past 50 years I watched the feeds from our cloaked observation satellite as human emergency vehicles surrounded the crystalline wage Ambassador Thorne had managed to broadcast the universal greeting message before her conscious shattered completely now her crystalline form lay scattered across the green earth grass catching the morning sunlight like a thousand dying Stars they're approaching the ship Nova reported through my neural interface she had
survived barely the virus had mutated her genetic structure but something in her cybernetic enhancements was holding it at Bay for now the human Response Team wore bright yellow containment suits smart cautious but as my sensors indicated completely unnecessary the virus was already everywhere on their planet in their air their water their soil these humans were swimming in it breathing it probably even drinking it and they were completely impossibly fine medical team approaching crash site a human voice crackled over their communication channels which we had easily tapped into no signs of biological contamination wait are those
crystals moving the remains of Ambassador Thorne were indeed moving trying one last time to form a coherent message the humans jumped back weapons raised but one of them a woman according to their genetic markers stepped forward instead I'm Dr Maya Winter chief of xenobiology at the United Nations science division she announced clearly we mean you no harm can you understand me the universal translators we had seated in Earth's information networks over the past decades did their work Ambassador Thorne's crystals vibrated One Last Time forming words in the air help us then she went dark forever
and I made my decision protocol be damned we were all dead anyway if this didn't work Nova prepare for atmospheric entry were going in the Phoenix Dawn broke through Earth's atmosphere like a new star being born I watched the humans primitive radar systems track US their military vessels scrambling to respond but we weren't here to anymore we landed beside the crash site our ship's medical containment fields at maximum power not to protect the humans from us but to protect what was left of my crew from whatever made the humans special The Landing ramp descended and
I stepped out into Earth's sunlight for the first time the atmosphere was thick almost soupy compared to my home world the gravity felt like it was crushing my exoskeleton but I walked forward anyway my bioluminescent patches pulsing with emergency codes Dr winter I called out using my ship's translators I am director Nexus Bri of the galactic science division we need your help the human woman stepped forward removing her containment suit helmet her dark skin glistened with sweat her eyes sharp with intelligence and curiosity rather than fear you're infected she said it wasn't a question the
entire galaxy is infected I replied every space fairing species is dying except you more humans were arriving now military vehicles government officials news crews but Dr winter stayed focused how long have you been watching us she asked long enough to know you're our last hope I said then my legs gave out Dr winter rushed forward despite her colleagues shouts of warning she caught me before I hit the ground her hands steady and surek get me a medical team she shouted and someone called Dr David Chen at the CDC tell him to bring everything we have
on historical viral immunity patterns I felt my Consciousness fading as the virus accelerated its attack on my system but before the darkness took me I saw something extraordinary in my bio readings where Dr Winter's hands touched my exoskeleton the virus was retreating not just going dormant actively retreating something in her biochemistry was like poison to it Nova I gasped through the neural link are you seeing this already recording sir she replied weakly their whole biology it's like they evolved specifically to kill this thing as human Medical Teams rushed around me I started laughing the great
filter that had kept us from finding other Advanced civilizations the mysterious absence of ancient space fairing species the virus that was killing us all it had been waiting for exactly this moment but it had never counted on humans Dr winter I managed to say before the medical stasis took hold how many diseases has your species survived she smiled grimly as she helped load me into their primitive but functional Medical Transport all of them director brigh that's kind of our thing the last thing I saw before losing Consciousness was Dr winter barking orders to her team
already shifting into crisis mode already treating this Galactic pandemic like just another challenge to overcome for the first time since the virus appeared I felt something dangerous and wonderful hope 3 days into my recovery at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta I watched Dr Maya Winter stare at the holographic projection of human DNA with an expression I'd come to recognize as stubborn determination so you're telling me she said tracing a finger along a particularly Twisted sequence that our junk DNA isn't junk at all precisely I adjusted my position in the modified hospital bed they'd constructed for
my alien physiology what your scientists dismissed as non-coding DNA is actually an arsenal of viral defense mechanisms built up over millions of years Nova now more machine than her original species thanks to emergency cybernetic procedures projected additional data streams humans didn't just survive diseases she explained you Incorporated them every virus that that should have killed you became part of your genetic defense system Dr David Chen the cdc's top virologist burst into the room waving a tablet his usual composed demeanor had given way to excited energy the results from the deep genetic scan are in you're
not going to believe this he connected his tablet to the main display and a new set of data filled the air I felt my bioluminescent patches pulse with surprise as I recognized the pattern that's impossible I whispered what are we looking at Maya asked her eyes darting between the displays your mitochondrial DNA I explained my scientific mind racing the virus that's killing every space fairing species it's nearly identical to your mitochondria's original viral form David nodded enthusiastically about 2 billion years ago a virus infected early eukaryotic cells on Earth instead of killing them it formed
a symbiotic relationship those viral Invaders became our mitochondria the powerhouses of our cells and when this engineered ancient virus encountered human DNA Nova continued it recognized itself like looking in a mirror Maya sat down heavily in her chair so we're immune because we already went through this virus's evolutionary cycle billions of years ago not just immune I correct bringing up more data your DNA contains markers from thousands of similar viral infections each one added new defense mechanisms your species didn't just survive diseases you turned them into weapons the Black Death David mused Spanish Flu smallpox
each pandemic changed our genome made us stronger Nova projected a new simulation look at what happens when the galactic virus encounters human blood cells we watched as the virus particles approached human cells then simply fell apart the cellular defense mechanisms didn't just stop the virus they dismantled it your whole species is like a galactic immune system I said quietly one that's been in development for billions of years Maya was already typing rapidly on her computer we need to sequence the specific proteins responsible for this defense mechanism if we can synthesize them already on it David
interrupted I've got teams working on it at CDC wh and every major Research Hospital globally Humanity about to export its immune system to the Galaxy a notification pinged on my neural interface more casualty reports from across the Stars the quantum highways were dead zones now littered with the drift of dead ships but for the first time we could do more than just watch there's something else Nova said her partly mechanical voice hesitant director bright show them the temporal analysis I nodded pulling up the Deep time scans we'd been running the virus wasn't just engineered to
Target space fairing races it was engineered to activate after a specific species achieved immunity after you achieved immunity the room went quiet as the implication sank in are you saying Maya spoke slowly that someone engineered this virus billions of years ago knowing it would kill everyone except us that's impossible I finished no more impossible than your species surviving every pandemic that should have wiped you out no more impossible than your junk DNA containing defense mechanisms against diseases you've never encountered David was already pulling up historical records check this out every major disease in human history
prompted huge leaps in medical knowledge each pandemic pushed us to better understand genetics vir ology cellular biology you were being prepared Nova stated someone or something was making sure humans would be ready for this moment I watched the humans process this Revelation their expression showed disbelief wonder and something else determination well Maya said standing up and cracking her knuckles I guess we better not waste all that evolutionary preparation David how quickly can we synthesize these defense proteins current estimates say 48 hours for the first batch but scaling up to Galactic quantities will be handled by
every pharmaceutical company and research lab on Earth she finished I just got word the UN Security Council has declared this Humanity's top priority every resource we have is being diverted to production my patches pulsed with renewed hope you understand what this means for Galactic Society every surviving species will owe their resistance to humanity Maya gave me a look that I was learning meant she was about to say something very human director bright all we understand is that people are dying and we can help the politics can wait Nova's Quantum processors hummed as she ran new
projections with immediate distribution of human derived treatments we might save up to 30% of the remaining Galactic population not good enough David and mayia said simultaneously we didn't come this far survive this much to only save some Maya continued wek find a way to improve those numbers I watched as they Dove back into their work their determination infectious perhaps that was Humanity's greatest weapon against Extinction not their enhanced DNA or their billion-year evolutionary Head Start but their absolute refusal to accept defeat and as I monitored the incoming data stream showing the virus's continued spread across
the Galaxy I found myself thinking that the mysterious Engineers who had prepared Humanity for this moment had chosen very well indeed Nova I called out tell the council survivors to prepare for mass production and distribution the cure for death is about to be manufactured in bulk by a pre-ftl species already done sir she replied though I did omit the part where the Cure is basically weaponized human biology I laughed my patches glowing with Amusement probably wise the Galaxy's about to get a very intense dose of humanity one way or another the sight of thousands of
alien ships filling Earth's Skies should have caused Panic instead I watched in amazement as humans responded with characteristic adaptability all right people let's move Commander Nathan Torres bellowed across the repurposed football stadium in Dallas those environmental domes aren't going to build themselves we've got 3,000 aquilan incoming who breathe methane I observed from my hover platform as human construction Crews worked alongside partially recovered aliens the virus was still present but regular treatments derived from Human antibodies kept it at Bay not a cure but a Fighting Chance director brigh Maya called out jogging across the field we've
got a situation in New Delhi the photonic refugees are accidentally causing power surges in the electrical grid send Nova I replied checking my data streams she's already helped set up similar containment fields in Lagos and Buenos Ires the numbers were staggering over 2 billion refugees from 47 species had arrived on Earth in the past week alone every major city had become a cosmic Melting Pot Humanity's response they treated it like just another Logistics challenge incoming transport a voice boomed over the stadium speakers crystalline Collective survivors terminal cases Medical Team Six to receive area I watched
as Dr David Chen LED his team toward the landing Zone they had gotten incredibly efficient at emergency treatments the sight of humans wrapping dying Crystal beings in specially treated bandages that leaked human antibodies had become almost routine director Commander Torres approached my platform we've got a problem in sector 7 the hive mind refugees are broadcasting telepathic distress signals it's giving people headaches three blocks away before I could respond Maya jumped in already handled we're setting them up with modified Quantum dampeners and we've got local volunteers teaching them about human concepts of personal mental space the
adaptation wasn't just One way humans were learning too I'd seen children playing with young morphans mimicking their color changes with painted faces restaurants were developing menus for dozen of different biochemistries universities were hastily establishing xenobiology departments sir Nova's voice came through my neural interface update from the Tokyo Refugee Center they've successfully integrated the first mixed species School human children are apparently excellent at teaching aliens about Earth Customs a commotion near the Stadium's main entrance caught my attention a group of mecon refugees their mechanical bodies still showing signs of viral corruption were arguing with human Security
Forces what seems to be the problem here I asked hovering over they wanted help build the environmental domes a security officer explained but their systems aren't fully decontaminated yet we can't just sit idle the lead melon's voice crackled with static your species saved us let us help Maya stepped forward with a solution the quantum shielding Factory needs precise mathematical calculations your processing power would be perfect for that you can help without risking contamination the mechons optical sensors bright acceptable compromise we will begin calculations immediately I marked that down as another crisis averted but they kept
coming every hour brought new challenges different atmospheric requirements incompatible food needs cultural misunderstandings that could turn deadly if not handled properly yet humans kept adapting kept solving kept helping director Nova called out the council survivors are requesting a status update they want to know how Earth is handling the refugee crisis I looked around the stadium a human child was teaching a group of aquilan youngsters to play soccer their environmental suits gleaming in the Texas Sun nearby a team of human and photonic Engineers were designing better power grid interfaces in the medical Bay Crystal Collective beings
were learning human meditation techniques to help stabilize their fractured forms tell them I said my patches glowing with pride that humanity is exceeding all expectations as usual a sudden cheer erupted from the construction zone the first environmental Dome was complete Commander Torres was already organizing teams to start on the next one Maya I called out what's the current adaptation success rate she checked her tablet smiling 97% of refugee groups report positive integration experiences turns out humans are pretty good at making others feel welcome once they get past the initial shock David added walking past with
arms full of treatment supplies though I still can't believe the morphans want to start a fashion line hey if they want to revolutionize human clothing with color-changing fabric I'm all for it Maya laughed the sun was setting now casting Long Shadows through the stadium in the distance more ships were descending through the atmosphere more refugees more challenges more opportunities for Humanity to prove why they had had been chosen for this moment Nova I said quietly send a message to all incoming ships tell them tell them Earth welcomes them and that humanity is ready to help
them rebuild as the Stars began to appear above us I realized something profound the virus hadn't just shaped Humanity over billions of years it had shaped them into exactly what the Galaxy needed a species capable of not just surviving but helping others survived too The Great Migration wasn't an invasion or a crisis it was the beginning of something new something better and Humanity was leading the way one standard galactic year after the virus first appeared I stood before the newly reformed Galactic Council the chamber looked different now rebuilt on Earth in a massive structure that
humans simply called the Hub like everything else they built it was practical adaptable and somehow both both elegant and sturdy at the same time director brigh high counselor Maya Winter addressed me still wearing her lab coat even in her new political role your final report on the crisis please my patches pulsed with satisfaction as I brought up the latest data the chambers holographic systems a blend of human Innovation and alien technology filled the air with glowing statistics the numbers speak for themselves I began thanks to the worldwide deployment of of human derived treatments we saved
42% of the Galaxy's space fairing populations far above our initial estimates of 30% a murmur of appreciation rippled through the gathered Representatives the chamber was Fuller now than it had been even before the crisis as surviving species took their places alongside newly uplifted ones furthermore I continued Dr David Chen's team has successfully developed what appears to be a permanent cure the viral Evolution inhibitor derived from Human mitochondrial DNA doesn't just suppress the virus it prevents it from adapting to new species entirely David now head of the galactic Health Organization stood up from his seat we're
calling it The Legacy treatment because in a way it's Humanity's gift to the Galaxy the culmination of billions of years of viral Warfare encoded in human genes Commander Torres representing Earth's new xenolog Defense Force added his own report the refugee integration program has been a complete success over 3,000 Earth cities now host permanent alien populations and with the new Quantum translation matrices cultural exchange is happening faster than we ever thought possible and the ships someone called from the chamber floor what about the ships Nova's partially mechanical form hummed as she projected new data the human
Le recovery teams have salvaged 93% of all derel vessels from the quantum highways the remaining 7% have been marked as memorials I watched Maya no high counselor winter take this all in the former xenobiologist had proven to be as skilled at governing as she was at science the humans had a saying cometh the hour cometh the man or in this case the species and what of the origin question Maya asked have we discovered who engineered the virus this was the part I'd been dreading our archaeologic iCal teams have found evidence ancient installations buried beneath the
surfaces of various worlds they all point to a single conclusion the chamber went quiet as I brought up the new images the engineers who created the virus who guided human evolution who prepared Earth for this moment were us all of us or rather our combined civilizations from an alternate timeline the silence deepened as the implications sank in the quantum signatures in these installations match those were only now beginning to discover in human DNA whoever did this had access to technology were only now starting to understand they seated the virus yes but they also seated The
Cure they chose Earth chose Humanity as the backup drive for Galactic Civilization but why the question came from a young aquilan Diplomat why not just prevent the collapse in their timeline because they couldn't Nova answered the data suggests their Galaxy was dying from something far worse than a virus something they couldn't stop so they did the next best thing they made sure the next iteration of Galactic Civilization would be stronger would have Humanity as its foundation I brought up my final displays images of the new Earth crystallin spires Rising alongside human skyscrapers aquilan Water Gardens
in the Pacific Ocean photonic energy arrays powering entire continent mechanoid processing centers advancing human computer science by centuries they didn't just save Humanity I said they saved all of us by making sure Humanity would be here to save us the virus wasn't a test of survival it was a delivery system for bringing us all together Maya stood her Authority now natural and easy then we should honor their sacrifice by building something worthy of it the old Galactic Council saw itself as the Pinnacle of of evolution we know better now she gestured to the change chamber
around us look at what we've accomplished in just one year human adaptability combined with crystalline Precision human creativity merged with mechanoid processing power human determination enhanced by photonic energy manipulation we're not just surviving anymore we're becoming something new something better the numbers support this Nova added Tech technological advancement has accelerated by an estimated factor of 700 since the integration began the combined knowledge of all surviving species filtered through human Innovation is creating developments we can barely track and that's just the beginning David said the Legacy treatment isn't just a cure it's a blueprint for how
different species can work together at a cellular level we're talking about possibilities that would have seemed like magic a year ago I felt my patches glowing with emotion as I delivered my final point the virus killed many of us yes but it also killed our complacency our isolation our belief that we had reached the peak of possible achievement looking at Earth now at what we becoming together I can't help but think that was the point all along Maya nodded then addressed the full chamber the crisis is officially over the rebuilding is well underway but our
work our real work is just beginning humanity is ready to take its place Among the Stars not as conquerors or saviors but as partners we survived apart now let's see what we can become together the chamber erupted in approval I watched as humans and Aliens alike celebrated not just survival but the promise of something more later standing at the hub's observation deck I watch ships from a dozen species Dock and depart Earth glowed below us transformed but somehow still fundamentally itself Still Human ready for the next Crisis director Maya asked joining me at the window
with Humanity around I laughed my patches pulsing with genuine Joy I almost feel sorry for whatever tries to kill us next she smiled but her eyes were serious we won't let them down you know the ones who chose us who trusted us to save you all I looked at this remarkable human this scientist turned leader and felt nothing but certainty no I agreed you won't that's what makes you human
