http://imgur.com/gallery/IeLuO
something based on this lovely mini-story?
Understanding the entire concept took some time. Earth bombarded the Dracs with popular media. All the stories where someone made a noble sacrifice for the greater good.
How ingrained in us it was that one life for the betterment of others was the good thing to do. How selflessness was a virtue.
The Ambassadors were horrified. Perplexed. Confused. Bemused. And overall, plain confounded.
The Dracs studied us, of course. Examined Earth for the first time since they discovered us. They learned about the human ability to populate an area until overpopulation became a serious threat. About our ability to drain a resource to the point of scarcity and continue draining it whilst living in heavy denial. All whilst preventing the means with which to pursue alternate strategies.
They saw how our females risk their lives and health just to bring more humans into existence. They saw how our planet was a Class Four Deathworld. They saw how many species used the ‘populate or perish’ model for survival against the odds. And they saw us. A bumbling bunch of balding apes, struggling against the elements, a hostile environment, and each other to gain whatever it was we thought we wanted.
Then the most powerful species in the known universe offered terms of surrender.
Their surrender.
To us.
Decades after they filled the skies with their warships and declared the entire solar system to be a protectorate of the Dracaenin Empire, the Dracs surrendered to us. And many of us still didn’t understand what we did.
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