Rep. Sepulveda: …At this time I would like to ask the head of the committee tasked with the analysis of the biology and genome of the lifeforms, hereafter referred to by their chosen name in the English language, “Bast” when referring to the individual, “Basts,” when referring to a group including the species as a whole, and “Bastian,” as the adjective or when referring to those dwelling on their home planet, to stand and present his findings to the assembled body of the United Nations.
Chairwoman Narusagawa: The chair recognizes Doctor Mariana Mendoza.
Dr. Mendoza: Thank you Chairwoman Narusagawa. The first and most pressing question I feel compelled to answer before I go into any finer detail is that of the Basts appearance, in particular why it bears certain striking similarities to our own.
[VISUALS INCLUDED WITH ORIGINAL RECORDS REDACTED DUE TO FILE FORMAT]
The Basts are, like us, bipedal, omnivorous, and symmetrical. Their bodies are made up of eukaryotic cells that reproduce using DNA, they posses the same five senses and associated sensory organs, the same internal organs, the same bone structure. These striking similarities heavily suggest that somewhere along the evolutionary track, our two species share a common ancestor.
[OUTBURST, UNINTELLIGIBLE]
Chairwoman Narusagawa: Order! Order, or I will eject you from this assembly! Please continue doctor.
Dr. Mendoza: How that hypothetical relationship played out we can’t be sure of at this time. With more time to study the environment, sun and orbital path of Bastion Primaris, we may be able to conclude that the evolution of life from a similar or even identical single-celled precursor organism there played out so closely to Earth due to an ecosystem that resembles our own. In layman’s terms, it is possible that this was all an astronomically unlikely coincidence. [Pause, aprox. 2 seconds in length.] The other hypothesis is that said common ancestor was introduced to both planets either by chance or by another entity…
Rep. Garcia: I will not tolerate this any longer!
Chairwoman Narusagawa: The chair has not recognized representative Garcia!
Rep. Garcia: Is this doctor trying to say that humanity was placed on this world by aliens?
Chairwoman Narusagawa: Representative if you continue to talk out of turn I will have you removed from the floor.
[Unified Faith High Priest Humility pages with a request to speak.]
Chairwoman Narusagawa: The chair recognizes the honorable High Priest Humility.
UFHP Humility: Thank you, chairwoman. My fellow delegates, I feel I cannot be silent any longer. I have two things to say to you all, one to the faithful and one to those who forge their own path through life. First I feel it is vital to restate the facts. We have made first contact with life from beyond our own mother Earth. This life, so similar to us in so many ways …the rules have changed. Can anything be called impossible anymore? How else would you explain the existence of the Basts? After years of interaction, of exchange of knowledge do you still wish to claim that this is some sort of elaborate hoax? If not, then you must accept their existence, and understand that they are so very much like us. Now is the time to open your minds to all conceivable ways this could have come to pass, lest we never know or understand our shared place in this life. And secondly, to those of you who keep faith in their heart as I do, I am not blind to your discontent. To many of you the suggestion of intelligent life somewhere other than our home feels like blasphemy. But what I, and doctor Mendoza are saying is not that we aren’t God’s children. Rather, we ask that you consider that we may not be his only children.
The Wings of Atlantis 