[ WP ] `` Before we allow humankind to live among us in the stars , tell us the faults of your kind . ''

The ambassador of all of the race of humanity, of all the small world which shimmered still far down below, if `` below'' could be said to exist here, far beyond the grand cradle of humanity, which still floated around the life giving star far beyond, considered the question carefully. He did not truly know the faults of humanity. Was humanity particularly warlike? Not compared to many of our relatives, merely more meticulous and organized in our desire for the death of the outsider. Were we particularly cruel? Perhaps, but the ambassador had seen cats toy with dying mice, ripping them slowly and surely as they listened to their pained shrieks and last gurgles of life. He had seen ants rip each other to pieces for no crime other than being of a foreign tribe. He had seen monkeys rip frogs apart for fun. Surely we were not that cruel. Was humanity selfish? Perhaps, but he had seen humans sacrifice themselves for others, people they had never met merely out of a moral recognition of the value of their lives. Was humanity chaotic? Perhaps, but he had never seen any creature bear such individuality and yet organize so effectively. He was lost in philosophical musing, and all the while the many eyes, or he thought they were eyes, of the living things from the inky beyond outside the grand craft in which he stood, watched his every twich, seeming to stare into the air just beyond his mouth as if scenting his breath from far away. Finally, weighing his words with care, he spoke. 
 
 `` Sir, I can not answer this question. I have no expierece with your race.'' 
 
 One of the creatures gave off a series of whirrings, almost imperceptible, and the others turned a few of their mini eyes on him, and perhaps glimpsed some unknown single, and from it gleaned his response. The small box in the center of the podium ( a rather shoddily made structure with a shelf that was far too large, and which came only to his knees, in addition to having a small pedastal which seemed to be meant for him to stand on, which was perhaps a third the length of his foot. ) from which the ambassador spoke rang out with a voice. 
 
 `` Ambassador of the sentient inhabitants of the Sol system, member of the Hominid clan, I did not ask about my race. Perhaps there is some confusion or mistranslation?'' 
 
 `` There is none. I can not speak in absolute terms, good sir. I require a reference point. Perhaps our thought differs on this, but humans have few absolutes in our thought and speech. If one were to ask me if I thought a pumpkin was large, I might answer yes. If he was to ask if I thought Rhode Island was large, I would answer no. Rhode Island is the smallest of the various distinct areas of the nation I am from, but it has enough space for as many pumpkins as exist on our world. Yet it is small and the pumpkin is large. I know that humans have waged many wars against each other over our years, but is that a normality? It is possible we are the most warlike of the races in your council. It is also possible we are the most peaceful. Thus I can not say if our warlike nature is a flaw. In addition, I can not say what you consider a flaw. I enjoy beer, a liquid that I consume on occasion, cold. I enjoy weather warm. If you were to ask if warmth was a flaw, I would have no answer. Let us suppose a child, the pre adult form of humans, fell sick. She had a disease which would spread and kill everyone in the town if she were not stopped. Let us suppose her parents killed her. How would you view them? Praise them for their willingness to sacrifice something dear to them so others did not have to? For being cold and logical rather than giving in to their own emotional weaknesses? Or would you be disgusted by their lack of honor at killing one of their offspring? Would you call them evil? Do you have a concept of evil? I can tell you much about humanity, but I can not tell you its flaws unless you tell me what constitutes a flaw. Once to be fierce and conquer your neighboring nations to take their land was a greatness. Now it is viewed as a great evil and injustice. Once we kept our fellow humans in bondage as property, the spoils of war. Now every nation holds that such action is a crime, even though some still perform it. If one species can disagree on what is virtue and sin, I would not possibly know how to begin with another one.'' 
 
 Again, the whirring was heard and again the signals imperceptible to the human went out amongst the gathered crowd. Finally, the box began emanating a voice. `` Human, I congratulate your race on its entry into the Galactic Union of Sentient Space Faring Races. Please report to your world's leaders, we shall begin negotiations for uninhabited planet claims and technological sharing immediately.''
