A/N: Hello readers! Long story short, life has been particularly tumultuous in the past couple months, and I haven't been in a mood to write much at all. I'm hoping that will change soon. Until then, here's a little tidbit to hold you over and to show you that I am not dead. :P

I wanted to mention that the first few chapters of this story were overly comedic compared to the rest of the story because I originally intended for the story to actually be part comedy. I also didn't think this story would get much of any attention, so I didn't really consider future possibilities.

This story is no where near the quality I'd like it to be, partly because it's what I call an "experiment fic", and because I'm writing this story by the seat of my pants without much editing going on. It's rough, it's flawed, and it's got a rather jarring flow. But you guys seem to like it a lot, so I'll keep churning out what I can for the experience/feedback to improve, and for you guys. I've been considering the idea of a total rewrite that starts off serious (but not dark) and is a much more contained story than this assorted collage of perspectives. If you have anything to say about that idea, feel free to say it in a review or PM.

Enjoy!

Chapter 10: Spirit

Coexistence Honor Society awards first human Memorial Awards

The Coexistence Honor Society, known for its dedication to honoring proponents and heroes of coexistence, awarded Memorial Awards—given only posthumously— to humans for the first time. The CHS prefaced the announcement by saying that "they are the first of many."

Four in total, the awards were figuratively given to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Carl Sagan, and Charlie Chaplin. The CHS also bestowed a Takiri Award—the highest award that can be given to anything larger than a small group—to the Apollo Program, which brought humans to Earth's abnormally large moon (referred to by some as Earth's double planet twin) for the first time. The Apollo Program was selected mainly "because of its strong support for coexistence, honoring of space explorers from all nations, and driving a major cultural shift to seeing Earth as more vulnerable and less divided than before."

Particularly inspiring, the CHS committee said, was the plaque left on the surface of Earth's moon, Luna, after the very first mission to its surface in human history. Especially given the highly competitive, high-tension, war-of-ideologies environment of the time, the plaque's inscription "embodies some of the highest qualities the CHS stands for": "Here men from the planet Earth set foot on the moon, July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind."

Mars, First Contact ongoing

Kate stood in the bridge of the Sialara, both giddy and sad. The Destiny, and all of her related components, had been exceptional, carrying her and her fellow astronauts to Mars. Leaving her behind seemed like abandoning a faithful friend to chase after more popular kid on campus.

But it wasn't quite so bad once NASA started putting the final plan together. The autonomous systems on the Destiny and its landing craft would allow the entire thing to return home on its own, albeit without the important aid of a crew.

Still, mission control's decision was unanimous: the Sialara was a much safer and faster way home, and it could carry more cargo back (which Wavela was more than happy to offer).

In fact, because of the ease which the Sialara could travel across vast distances both inside and outside planetary atmospheres, they were able to retrieve the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers. To the curiosity and interest of the alien crew, the news that two of the Mars rovers would be returned home brought emotional smiles to the Destiny's crew.

The Mars Rovers held a special place in their hearts, even more so than most space exploration aficionados. As the first humans to set foot on Mars, these dutiful robots had paved the way to Mars long beforehand, taking dangerous, one-way suicide missions to help humanity understand their fascinating neighbor-planet.

Maybe, Kate thought, it was going too far to think of them as brave explorers they had left behind on distant worlds, alone. But everything that had happened in the past few days had given her new perspective: the rovers were just as much a part of humanity and its exploration of the cosmos as Yuri Gagarin and Buzz Aldrin. They may not have been alive, but they carried the spirit of humanity all the same.

When Opportunity was first recovered and accessible to her, Kate was blown away at the surrealism of the experience. It was so unnaturally motionless, but it had the obvious signs of life, from the uneven red dust caking some of its parts and the random assortment of scratches and cracks along its body. As she and John slowly knelt in front of the rover, they ignored the presence of Keigo, Wavela, and several of the other aliens looking on. For those few moments, it was just the few fellow Mars explorers, somehow meeting for the first time and reuniting after decades apart. Though Kate felt slightly self-conscious and embarrassed for saying it out loud, she pushed those feelings aside when she lightly brushed her hand against Opportunity's "head": "You're finally coming home, little guy. Sorry it took us so long…we missed you."

Regular report to Council, shortly after recovery of Spirit rover

/ /

I was originally perplexed when asked if the Sialara could recover two robotic exploratory rovers from the surface of Mars. Given the circumstances, why would recovering these old robots be important? My first guess was that these robots, despite being decades old, probably had valuable data or samples in them. Given the relative ease at which the Sialara could recover the two requested robots, I agreed immediately.

But I now realize the real reason why these robots were so significant to humanity (or at least the human explorers we met). They are fellow explorers to the human "astronauts". They were the first human creations sent to the surface of Mars, and they sent back invaluable data for years beyond their expected lifespans. To these humans, the robots were, in an abstract way, akin to people that had bravely accepted one-way missions to distant places with no hope of return or survival, all for the sake of exploration and greater understanding. For us to give them the opportunity to bring these robots back home, to Earth, is probably one of the most significant acts of friendship we have done so far in this mission.

Giving the astronauts a safer, faster return trip to Earth also gives us an extraordinary opportunity that first contact teams rarely get: we'll arrive on the surface of their homeworld for the first time right alongside humans. No, actually—not just alongside humans, but alongside friends. Also, it lessens the potential political issue of where we first land—bringing the astronauts back to their home base gives us an apolitical, strong reason for landing where we do. That said, we will do our best to emphasize that our relationship will be with all of humanity, not any one or group of nations. John advised that we do short, public visits with several countries around the world. I agree; our second stop will be to the United Nations headquarters (incidentally in the same country as the first stop, but it will still be a great opportunity; there will be respected and recognized delegates from over 200 (!) nations)

John warned me that many humans—thought definitely a minority—would be hostile to us (alien life in general), he also said (off the record) that, from a cultural, social, and political standpoint, it would be best if we proceeded very gradually, but also very openly. In other words, humans generally don't react well to large, sudden changes, especially when said changes encroach on their figurative and physical territory. He clarified, however, that being open and transparent would be seen very favorably; allowing some humans to see our civilization, culture, and other things for themselves would provide a much smoother transition.

I agree with his position, and I have no problem with letting that stand on the record. Inflicting change on them without firm human consensus could be very problematic and potentially disastrous. Instead, we should let humans decide how to change themselves. We have to be relatively open and completely honest with them. Our relationship should be founded on complete trust. If I learned anything from my stupid mistake mentioned earlier, it is that humanity as a whole generally prefers honesty over false reassurance. If they don't fully trust us, then we will alienate them no matter how good our intentions are, or what ends we seek to achieve.

As for the initial cost-benefit analysis of investing in humanity: I don't know nearly enough yet to give a reliable answer, but from what I do know, I'd say it's generally positive. Put in extremely general terms, I don't yet know if we're dealing with turians or asari, for example, but I know we aren't dealing with Rachni-War-Era krogan.

A/N: Very short, I know. I apologize for that.

About the recipients of the awards: Don't read too much into the selection. They're the first of many, and I haven't been in the mood for extensive research for a while. Charlie Chaplin is kind of the odd man out even then, but the guy was actually very influential in an unusual way. Some of his speeches are still quite touching in today's time.

If you don't know who Carl Sagan is, search "Carl sagan blue dot speech" and you'll get an idea of why this guy is so freaking important to humanity from the perspective of First Contact. And he's awesome in general, too.

As for the astronauts caring so much about the rovers: yes, people can and DO develop strong feelings for non-living objects. Astronauts especially have a history of doing this, whether it's the LEM that saved their lives in Apollo 13, or the Voyager probes. And given the important connection of being Mars explorers, just extrapolate...as for why just those two are recovered: easiest to locate, and the first that came to mind. And they'll hopefully be back for the others.

Please review! Any feedback, ideas, suggestions, or questions are greatly appreciated and give me the much-needed fuel to write!