[They're a bit like fireflies, and they divide up into smaller ones, swarming just like them.]

That's right. I'm Mars, the guardian of that planet. There's one of us for nine of the ten planets in our solar system, as well as for the moon and the moons of Mars. So, at present that's thirteen.

[Yes, she said ten planets.]

Most planets have a guardian like me. The living ones do, anyway.