Senator Cohen took off his glasses, looking at Miranda like he was a grade school student who’d given him a flimsy excuse for his tardiness. “And what I am hearing is an argument that we should allow the human impulse to be discriminatory to inform decisions on whether or not to expand human rights to include nonhuman ETIs.”

“Our laws serve human interests first and foremost,” said Miranda, “and I feel like it’s in the public interest never to have anything like Pershing Square happen ever again.”

“I think we are all in agreement on that,” said Cohen. “The first time any of the public saw a living ETI was at a rally at which people died, a rally you helped organize.”

“Senator, I would argue that the context of the rally is immaterial. I would argue that the ETI’s intent is immaterial. You cannot place a being like this in a public space and expect people not to feel unsafe. Even ignoring the way the ETI looks to human eyes, how can anyone feel safe not knowing what this being is physically capable of?”

“Do you believe that human rights should or should not be meted out based on physical ability—or physical appearance, for that matter? For their potential to make other people uncomfortable?” asked Cohen.

“Again, I do not believe you can apply standards created for humans to beings with superhuman ability.” At this, for the first time, Cora felt fear creep into Miranda’s voice. “I saw what they were capable of. I’m pretty sure I only saw a sliver of what they were capable of.”

“And what did you see?” asked Cohen.

“I saw a van picking up speed and coming toward me. I saw the hood of a van crumple like it had hit an invisible wall.”

“So what you are saying is,” said Cohen, nearly cutting him off, “you saw a van charging a passive ETI, and either some invisible extraterrestrial force defended the ETI, or the ETI defended itself.” Cora shuffled, itching a little that even the well-meaning Senator Cohen was still referring to Nikola as it instead of he or they. Even Miranda knew better than to describe Nikola as it.

“Yes,” said Miranda. “If that force, that invisible wall, did indeed come from the ETI, what I saw was self-defense, but self-defense that comes from incredible power. We know little about what technologies could allow for remote electromagnetic manipulation, but many scientists agree that the ability to manipulate matter remotely would take an incredible amount of power. We’re talking hundreds, maybe even thousands of nuclear bombs, just to stop a van from ten feet away.”