Worst navigator . ever ! That would be me . Stranded on this pale blue dot called Earth , since 1967 . It was a day trip from my planet , Mars . What could go wrong ? Everything . apparently . My guardians , or parents as you call them here , warned me not to buy that spaceship . But no , I couldn ' t listen to reason or logic . That ' s what their names translate to , here on Earth ' Reason ' and ' Logic '. No , I had to be independent and prove that I was what you call responsible . Everything checked out , so I still don ' t quite understand what went wrong . The ship was considered a classic but the ion propulsion engine was brand new . I even got the electromagnetic thruster option , so I could reach the escape velocity for Mars , Venus , and even Earth . I wasn ' t even thinking about the navigation system . Every Martian is taught how to navigate the solar system from conception . No , that is not right . Conception is birth here , but we are all taught how to navigate . Obviously , I wasn ' t paying attention . I was probably daydreaming of going to Earth and seeing all these human people , when I should have been studying . Humans were fascinating to me . I wanted to know everything about them , everything about their culture , their bodies , emotions , and language . But most of all , I wanted to visit Earth . It looked so beautiful in the holograms . All the incredible colors , textures . or geography , rather . From the rain forests , to the desserts , I wanted to see it all and I couldn ' t wait until I was old enough to visit . Normally , Martians don ' t see what humans call red . So , when I learned to adapt to human form and saw Mars through human eyes , I was disappointed . But Earth . Earth was alive with color , sound , and smells some of them terrible to me . So Earth was my hobby . My obsession . And if I wanted to visit Earth , I have to learn to adapt to human form , speak human language , and be able to pass as human in general . I also needed a ride . Few of the other Martians were interested in Earth . With our ability to travel just about anywhere in space that we wanted to go , there were an infinite amount of planets to visit . And Saturn was the favorite destination within this galaxy . Galaxies are more like neighborhoods for Martians . What humans call The Milky Way is considered more of a luxury neighborhood , with the addition of Earth , Venus and Saturn . Though ' Reason ' and ' Logic ' both tell me that the neighborhood has lost value since some idiot Martian dug a gigantic heart on Pluto to prove to his union , . I mean girlfriend , how much he loved her . Which is weird in itself because Martians don ' t have hearts like humans . But she was an Earth lover and that is what attracted her , to him . Unfortunately for the Martian , he was deported and never saw her again . I mean , you just don ' t graffiti a planet and get away with it . right . Idiot . Well , not the only idiot . I relied too heavily on a navigation system , with corrupted code . And while I would love to fix it , I dropped out of Quantum Computer Programming to study Earth History Culture . One of the first things I learned in that class humans have not fully developed Quantum Computers yet . There are not a lot of people who even understand how they would write a program for it . They still need a quantum gate that is the equivalent of a semiconductor only allowing a single photon to pass through at a time . Although , if it is truly a semiconductor , then when the theoretical drain opens , it should act like an interruption switch . Even when they achieve that . I still have about 57 more years of waiting , before I can fix my navigation system . I can do another 57 years , easy , I thought . Then , I saw him . I had heard about him , but didn ' t really know much until I heard him talk about his companies ' Interplanetary Space Transport , and Colonial Mars Transport . No way this guy is for real , I said to myself , but as I sat there watching him reveal his plan , I could not help but get excited . One way or another , I was finally going home . I was ecstatic , for all of 5 minutes . Realizing that ever since 1971 , when I watched the Mariner 9 orbit Mars , that my parents and friends were gone . Two Earth years before I was stranded here , Mariner 4 did a flyby of Mars . I will never forget ' Logic ' complaining . If the humans are coming to Mars , that ' s it , we are leaving . ' Reason ' told me soon after that , if I wanted to visit Earth , I had better do it soon . ' Logic ' was prejudice against humans because he felt they were destroying their planet and he never intended to come anywhere near this galaxy again . Since , I could not pilot a spaceship yet , it looked like it might be a long time before I ever saw Earth . That was my motivation , or my justification for buying my ship and learning to fly . I had to visit Earth and it had to be soon , before the Martians , left Mars or humans ended up destroying the Earth . I didn ' t know where they went . When I lost navigation , I lost communication too . But I knew if I could get back to Mars , ' Reason ' would leave something behind , something that would tell me or help me to find them . I often wondered if they were looking for me , somewhere on Earth , but I remembered how much ' Logic ' despises this planet , and gave up hope of that long ago . I used to daydream that Earth was home to obsessed culture fans like me . It wasn ' t that hard to learn to adapt to human form . The problem was fitting in . You couldn ' t just look human , like I said before , you had to think , talk and behave human to make it convincing . Otherwise , if they found out you were an alien , they had no hesitation or remorse about slicing you open just to see what you are made of . An incomprehensible crime to Martians and aliens alike , outside this galaxy . Humans were considered barbaric monstrosities , and parasites to other aliens . Most did not want to live near them , certainly not the ' elite aliens '. So many of them moved to the Andromeda galaxy . There was little chance of many Martians visiting Earth , much less residing here fulltime . But if there were Martians here , and adapting to human form , I bet I could identify them . maybe . Because I found out quickly that learning how to be human theoretically is very different from the practical experience . I had a difficult time fitting in when I arrived , so I decided to change my human form and immerse myself in ' being human '. I changed into a 2 year old , lost Earth girl and walked myself right into an orphanage . Within a year , I was adopted , but the experience allowed me to learn at the same rate of a human child . Personally , I think it was brilliant . Change Adapt Survive Thrive . However , I still stood out a little . Everyone in my new family was blonde , tall , with pale white skin and covered in freckles . I had chosen to look like a native American my favorite Earth culture . So , people were always a bit curious at family gatherings , or school activities . There was something a little bit different about me , they would say . They never quite figured out what it was . thankfully . It became easier , as I got older . When I graduated school and was able to be independent , I got a job with computers . It was so absurd . These monstrosities with so little efficiency and capacity . Humans are funny . I have to restrain myself or my knowledge , and pretend to learn all over again . I may not be the smartest Martian , but at least I could do this . Hopefully , without getting caught , and sliced open for experimentation . I missed my human family though . My parents here were amazing . They loved this little alienindian baby like I was their own child . I still miss them , and I don ' t know what to say to them . about Mars . Do I tell them ? Will they believe me ? Will it break their hearts ? That is the most difficult thing about being human is the emotions , especially love . I have no idea why humans still believe they love with their heart . It ' s in your brain , but frankly , I have lived here so long that I am starting to believe it too . This whole love thing . emotion . We had it on Mars . It binds you , but at least I had ' Reason ' and ' Logic ' to help me unravel the mystery of love that so many species get tied up in . Martians have a better balance and control of emotions than humans . Well , most Martians anyway . Stupid Pluto . Idiot , Martian graffiti artist . I blame him . I feel like an alien torn between two worlds . I have a chance to go home , to Mars , but I love the Earth . I love my families both of them . Five to seven more years , or ten at the most , and I will be able to go home . Whatever comes first , fixing my navigation system or getting a ride on that Colonial Mars Transport . I ' m not sure how to feasible the latter option is though . It sounds expensive . Although the more I learn about this guy who is making it , the more I think he might be a renegade Martian . An Earth lover , who came here to save the planet . I mean . what human runs this many successful companies simultaneously . It ' s like , he is not even trying to fitin anymore . Maybe . he is stranded here too . I wonder if he can fix my navigation system .