In the twenty-second century, humanity made contact with extraterrestrial civilizations. For an ordinary person, not much changed. The planet still lived its own life, and real aliens were almost never seen. Our galactic neighbors weren’t interested in our minerals, our living space, or anything else. There is so much like this in space that a thousand generations wouldn’t be able to master it. Besides, it’s not profitable—too far away is the Solar System, out on the very fringes of the galaxy.
In general, the aliens didn’t fly to us—we flew to them. But a few did reach that far. Including me. I’m the first of my kind.