[ WP ] You have just been sworn in as President , and are being told the truth about alien life ... but it 's incredibly far from what anyone had ever imagined .

`` In my first term I have to be seen as trimming the fat on our budget. If word gets around that I'm wasting money on... I do n't know... searching for aliens, then I'm going to ge-'' 
 
 `` Funny you should mention aliens, sir, we still need to brief you on that.'' 
 
 `` Seriously? You guys are hiding aliens somewhere?'' 
 
 `` Well, not hiding. Just not explicitly shouting about it. You see Mr. President, it turns out intelligent life is far more common than we expected. Nearly everything appears to have some form of consciousness. It's just that our time frames and goals are very different.'' 
 
 `` So, where did the aliens come from? Where's their home world?'' 
 
 `` Everywhere. The plasmas of the sun, the methane clouds of Uranus, even certain types of rock seem to be conscious. They just do n't really seem to care about us. Rocks live for tens of thousands of years. They mostly worry about how to metamorphose. The plasma life in the sun's outer atmosphere flit in and out of existence in a few seconds. Generations pass in a single day. The plasma life basically see us as imperceptibly slow chemical reactions. We think they attempt some form of communication with other stars but we ca n't be sure it works. We really do n't know what they are trying to do but they seem to have an affinity for strong magnetic fields.'' 
 
 `` So there are aliens out there but they do n't care about us?'' 
 
 `` That about sums it up.'' 
 
 `` Why are we keeping this a secret?'' 
 
 `` Well, your predecessor decided that it was n't very uplifting news. It makes us seem... insignificant. He wanted to wait for us to find humanoid life or at the very least some sort of biochemical life.'' 
 
 `` Yeah, he's got a point. It might just breed apathy. Ok, keep the aliens under wrap for now. But, uh, lets push for some funding in something space-like. If we find space people I want people to remember me for it. Anyway, back to tightening the budget. I do n't want to be seen funding some sort of turd polishing operation.'' 
 
 `` Actually Mr. President, we need to brief you on something.''
