Greetings. I have to put this into something that sounds like your language. I am from Th’ermadk, which you might spell T-H, accent, E-R-M-A-D-K.

Well, that’s a mouthful. Where’s that?

Far away. We are here temporarily — as are most travelers — to continue to check up on your motivations. We know that you are not yet truly ready to welcome visitors from far away, but we do recognize, especially in the young, a desire to live differently, to have a good life, and to get along with people — and more than that, to embrace the differences in people. This is something different from the past. It is not quite what you would call religious, but it is one of the means of religion, which is to create a fellowship. This is very strong among the young, and it is a hopeful time. One finds that desire for fellowship as a consistent thread in all of civilization beyond this one. It is really what one could call the cornerstone of society everywhere.

We are part of what is not exactly a diplomatic corps, but it is our job to check up on you now and then. We feel that this is truly one of the most important of transformations, and it is literally acting as a bridge to make it possible for you to meet beings from other planets who look pretty much like you do — meaning the way peoples of Earth look. As a result, we feel it has moved up the potential for true contact. And when we say true contact, we mean a contact that is more than merely behind the scenes, so to speak. “Behind the scenes” would be contact with a government or contact with your own people out in space.