100 Billion stars in our galaxy, 100 Billion galaxies in our universe; one star out there must harbor life like us right? The crucible of the Big Bang spewed forth the building blocks for life across the entire Universe; we surely can’t be the only ones. I sit here and wonder, just how precious life really is. Maybe we are the only prisoners in this formidable asylum, maybe we were the lucky few who won the habitable planet lottery. If so, why us? We don’t deserve this blessing, if anything, it’s been a curse. Greed and envy spawn in a place where the riches are many and the laws are few. What makes us so special? Why did we receive a chance at life and not someone else, someone more suitable for the job perhaps?

Just look at us, we took for granted what may be the only hospitable planet in the entire Universe;
shouldn't we have been at least a little humbled and grateful to have been granted this opportunity? Maybe we weren't cut out for this job, and maybe the Universe knows that. Perhaps we’re not alone in this dark, lonely place; perhaps there are others like us, ruining their planet for selfish gain and profane profit, just like us. What if there were a species who actually got their act together, actually realized that a hospitable planet is an offering to be revered.

I remember when my people first came up with the equation, an algorithm to accurately find habitable planets like that of our own. They came up with the number 12,000. 12,00 stars roughly the same size as ours sitting complacently in our own galaxy ( I even recall reading about a Solar System just a few hundred light years away from us with as much as eight planets ). But out of those coveted few, how many can support life beyond just a few semi-cellular organisms? And how many can support life worthy of being deemed intelligent? What is, some day we actually do find a Solar System like ours, with a planet and a stable atmosphere like the one we've been tarnishing for so long? Could that planet’s denizens be several evolutionary steps below us, still learning how to collide particles, create Dark Energy, and master Wormhole exploration? Or worse, I fear we will find a civilization much more advanced than our own. I fear they will have already created algorithm similar to ours, maybe even thousands of years before our first technological advances, and deemed us incapable of supporting intelligent life.

The reality chills me every time I stare at the deep black night sky. These thoughts keep me up at night as do they everyone else, we must leave soon and everyone knows it. We are vacuously exhausting the planet’s last resources, the air is dirty and toxic, and whatever animals we have do left are caged in zoos. Soon we will have to evacuate, soon we will have to board our ships, and soon we will be forced to find a new place to call home. Our safest bet is a planet called Earth, a young planet whose size and orbit nearly mirror those of our own. I hope these sentient beings have treated their home better than we did ours; I hope they've been searching for life outside of their Solar neighborhood, as we have. And most importantly of all, I hope they’re ready for a few visitors.