The problem of altruism deserves to be revisited at this point.

On the face of it, one organism should have no reason to allow others to benefit at its expense. And yet, one does observe the female desert spider, which auto-digests and feeds herself to her offspring.1 More heart-warmingly, many species of reef-dwelling animal will refrain from eating the bluestreak cleaner wrasse as it plucks parasites from their skins. Male red-winged blackbirds defend their neighbors' nests from crows, even if those neighbors are not kin.2 The Arabian babbler, another bird, will compete with others for the privilege of helping a needy flock-mate.3

In the same way, the Greaves had refrained from cracking Koen's skull. The Bucolic had not trampled or gored Laura. No Quotidian had ever so much as tasted human flesh, as juicy as it looked.

The same code applied at higher levels. The Convention sold Lithium Borohydride to the United Nations at a very deep discount, and outright gave human scientists the technology to recharge the fuel after it had been dehydrogenated. More powerful species restrained themselves from invading and conquering new contacts. Indeed, making contact and bestowing such gifts was seen as a great honor, and one the United Nations was eager to accrue.

But there's always a catch. The spider shares half of her genes with each of her many spiderlings, so if they eat her and prosper, that's a net gain from the genes' perspective. The bluestreak cleaner wrasse waits until nobody is watching, then takes a bite of its client's precious skin mucus.4 Red-winged blackbirds don't defend neighbors who haven't defended them, and Arabian babblers with a reputation for noble self-sacrifice enjoy higher rank in the flock and more chances to breed.

Is there any organism that simply gives of itself and gives again for no other reason than to do good? Every single sophont species so far contacted has answered "yes," and pointed to itself.

The histories of all with inspired prophets, selfless heroes, and great states-beings. There are also many cynics who call all of the above manipulative liars or deluded fools. After many such discussions, the Convention has ruled that the question of altruism should be left open unto the indefinite future.

There was therefore, no official way to classify Mark as an altruist. He knew it, and worried. Am I doing this for the right reason?

Mark did not believe that he pursued control for its own sake. He thought he had a superpower and the responsibility to use it well. He thought he needed to be courageous.

And he was actually scared, because fashions were changing on social media.

The changes weren't as fast as they'd been before Contact, because people weren't as scared now as they used to be. But they were still spending a lot of time writing messages to each other on the internet, where opinions grew and clashed like vast, abyssal monsters. The current battle was between the people who believed in the Convention of Sophonts and those who believed in Animal Rights.

These factions had once been one. There had, at first, been a general assumption that a multi-species union would encourage humans to Earth's other species more kindly. Talking rotifers, talking spiders, talking sharks—we're all just animals together, right?

The problem was that the species that made up the Convention did not think of themselves as animals any more than most humans did. They domesticated, ate, and eradicated the other species that shared their versions of earth with apparent relish, and did very little to police each other. There was the occasional grandly-worded declaration, but the Vitriferous Outgrowth made no complaint about the Quotidians eating salads composed of other vitrifers.5

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"We're the Convention of Sophonts, not the Convention of Sentients," one Quotidian politician had been unfortunately recorded as saying. "So what if other species feel pain? We'll do what we like with them until they invent a way to stop us."

This attitude had caused outrage back on Earth. This, in the usual way, was turned to the advantage of one political interest or another.

Since Mark's goal was rising to a position of unassailable power and control, it made sense for him to join the movement. If vocally protesting the Convention while working more closely with it than almost any other human made Mark look like a hypocrite, that was only because he was one. If Mark bound himself to preach what he practiced, he'd never accomplish anything. That wasn't the problem.

The problem was that sometimes Mark would read a post and he wouldn't be able to understand it. There would be a reference to a reaction to some other post, and Mark didn't have the context to know what he should support and condemn. It was taking longer and longer to compose his own posts each day, and each day they were weaker and more cautious. People would start to notice his silence, the opinions he didn't know he ought to have. It felt as if the world was sliding away from him.

The lack of real-time internet made everything less certain, but there was a pressure he could feel building, an approaching line that he dared not let cross him. The very concept of interspecies union appeared to be going out of fashion. Mark felt he needed to do something big. Something that would put him on the right side of the argument.

Then what? Going home, certainly. He'd be hated by some, but loved by many more. A presidency? Maybe, or maybe not. There might be more powerful positions into which Mark could place himself. What mattered was that if so many people supported him, that would mean that they were on Mark's side. With so many allies around him, Mark might feel safe.

Koen turned off the stove under the sausages. "The problem is I've used up all the potatoes and red meat. If we need to do this tomorrow…"

"We do," said Mark.

"…then I'll have to try local ingredients."

"I would be happy to accompany you to the…" Laura couldn't even finish the sentence. She gave up, slumped against the counter, and finished her beer.

"No, I think I'll order the ingredients to be delivered. I have contacts for the spider."

Laura closed her eyes and swallowed.

"…and Furry Foods. "

"This is what I'm talking about," said Mark. "What we'll talk about. How is it that there is no easier way to get human groceries? It isn't right."

Koen nodded, but in his head, he was browsing exotic menus. Despite everything, he was actually looking forward to that delivery.

1 Salomon, M. et al. (2015). "Dramatic histological changes preceding suicidal maternal care in the subsocial spider Stegodyphus lineatus (Araneae: Eresidae)". Journal of Arachnology. 43 (1): 77–85.

2 Olendorf G. et al. "Cooperative nest defence in red-winged blackbirds: reciprocal altruism, kinship or by-product mutualism?" Proc Biol Sci. 2004 Jan 22;271(1535):177-82.

3 Zahavi A. (1974). "Communal nesting by the Arabian Babbler: A case of individual selection". Ibis. 116: 84–87.

4 Pinto, A. et al. (2011) Cleaner Wrasses Labroides dimidiatus Are More Cooperative in the Presence of an Audience. Current Biology.

5 For the curious, Vitrifers are a kind of photosynthetic jellyfish.