¿¿¿ ɹǝʇdɐɥƆ
In all of your wanderings upon that planet, did you ever notice anything missing?
No, not of the ȋ̶̢̩̅ɿ̶͓̏̆ʏ̵̨́͝ʜ̵̼͋q̶͉̬̕ɘ̸̦͝Ƹ̵̗̉͌,, though their absence must have been the most pronounced. Perhaps it is not so obvious, for you.
We will tell you, then.
That red planet once teemed with life. Of course, we had never seen it for ourselves, could never hope to unless we traveled there ourselves. But our friends, the first ȋ̶̢̩̅ɿ̶͓̏̆ʏ̵̨́͝ʜ̵̼͋q̶͉̬̕ɘ̸̦͝Ƹ̵̗̉͌ who came here told us such vivid stories that it did not matter. The water, the forests, and the air were filled with living beings, more vibrant and varied than we could ever imagine.
When the newest commander brought us a glass sphere filled with soil and leafy, sturdy plants, we thought it was a gift. A piece of xyr planet, a gesture of friendship. Then we saw the tiny, fragile creatures within. Their wings caught the light of The Blue, glimmering like stars.
Please, take good care of them, the commander said. Xe would not look at us, nor at the sphere.
How lucky you are, we said, to live amongst such beautiful creatures.
Xe made a sound then, one which we had never heard before but understood immediately, as surely as if it was our own language. It was a sound of pain.
Many moments passed. Xe became silent.
Not any more, xe said, when xe could speak again. They have been dying, and these are the only few that remain. It is our hope that you will take better care of them than we did.
