Genesis
Their arrival here had not
been planned. It was never meant to happen. They had simply been standing on a
planetary rock that was destined for something much bigger than any of Them could
anticipate.
They needed to stop in
an emergency. It was not an uncommon occurrence; They had after all only
discovered the ability to wander the vast cosmos some decades ago. They had
bound their vessel to a plain rock where it could simply orbit around the
planet whilst one of their mechanic inventions repaired the damage. That moment
wasn’t meant to be life-changing for Them.
But the universe, as They
learnt on that day, has a way of driving on its own course.
The azure planet was
close, but not dangerously so. It might have seemed beautiful to any other species,
but to Them it was simply rubbish. Pure, uninhabitable rubbish. They paid no
attention to it. Nor to that entire solar system for that matter.
None of Them had felt
the fist-sized meteor bump into their perch. Out there in the cosmos, where
planets and stars reached vast sizes, size did indeed matter. But Their
underestimation - a rookie mistake as They would later learn - had come at a
very hefty price. The meteor embedded itself on the giant rock’s side, leaving
no more than a slight tremor. But the momentum it carried initiated a chain
reaction; one to a devastating effect. Slowly the rock altered its course,
accelerating slightly. It moved, one lightyear at a time, towards its azure
neighbor.
The rock They were tied
on spun faster as it rocketed towards the blue planet. It had only taken a few minutes
for both planets to be locked in the other’s magnetic field. The blue planet, a
gargantuan beast of equal size to their perch, had pulled the planet closer to
it. They scurried into their ship for safety, knowing very well that those few
seconds would be their last. It was too late for takeoff: Their ship still required
repairs and the magnetic forces in play were too strong.
Seconds later the two
planets collided. After this event the blue planet would never again be the
same, with its axis tilted and its crust broken into a dozen pieces. Little did
the hitch-hikers know that They were in the presence of a rare event. The
planets did not explode into a million fragments and shudder the solar system
at its core. They merged.
But it wasn't over yet,
They realized, as They emerged from their wrecked vessel. Most of their
population died, but a few had lived to see another day. Now another dilemma
overcame them. How would They leave? They were stranded here, with dwindling
supplies, a ship in ruins and a population in dregs.
It took several days,
weeks, months, years, until They stumbled across the solution to all Their
problems. They realized that this planet, this virgin marvel whose birth They
had witnessed, held one resource that They, in all their journeying had never
encountered: water. This magical clear liquid, with its very basic chemistry,
reacted differently to different materials onboard their ship. One experiment
led to the next, and They soon mastered the use of this resource. Some even
learnt how to apply it to Their own bodies and found it nourishing against the
tempestuous climate and ever shifting ground. They knew there and then that this
element was the foundation of life. Life, pure and unencumbered, just waiting
for the correct mixture in order to blossom into something alien.
And that's when They
decided, that this planet, which had eradicated most of Their species in one
fell swoop, would be the one to supply more of Their brethren. They would
create Their next generation on this very planet. Meanwhile, They would repair the
ship, in preparation to continue towards Their original destination.
So They tampered with
the environment and the ecosystem. Just enough to nudge life into a start. Once
They had established a flourishing living ecosystem, They departed, eager to
return several millennia later in order to reap the fruits They had sown.
But the universe had
thwarted Their plans once more. Life on the blue planet had become savage and
monstrous. Large reptiles roamed the land; many more still refused to leave the
sea from whence they were born from. This cornucopia of bestiality and blood had
not been what They had envisioned. The creators were powerful and
sophisticated; these beasts could not evolve any further. In time, left
unattended, they would regress into some unimpressive, vile creature.
And They were furious.
Their own DNA would have never been compatible with such creatures. They could
never breed with such fiends. It was as if They were meant to be exterminated;
maybe it was the price that the universe demanded in exchange for their enlightenment
all those decades ago. But Their leaders, the most powerful and fearful of
them, would not have it. They will never accept extinction, not when They had
all this power. A new species, They decided, would be created, even if They had
to start over.
And so They manipulated
the heavens once more and wrought destruction upon the planet, eradicating
nearly all life. It was a fresh start. This time They would control nature, not
allow it to take its course.
They were overjoyed
with this new creature They had orchestrated. They had engineered it to near
perfection, placing random parts of their DNA code in it. Some of it would push
this new species to flourish and branch out wildly. But the more ambitious
planted their DNA strands to be activated only once the correct species emerged. After all, natural law had to be followed
and only the fittest deserved to be genetically linked to their creators. Later on, the future inhabitants of
this planet would call it 'mammal'.
Satisfied with Their
results, They set this new species free from Their clutches into the hands of
evolution. This was an exciting new prospect for Them; only a few mere
centuries ago They had discovered the laws of the universe. They had manipulated
space and time and found other planets. Some They had inhabited. Some They had
ravaged, leaving an empty husk in Their wake. Their species had rewritten parts
of the universe, perfecting and perverting according to Their whim. But They
had failed at being Gods. They could not create life, merely tamper with it.
Until that crash. It took the near-eradication of Their species to create new
life. An impressive feat, having a dozen survivors create not one, but two
separate eco-populations. Too bad the first had failed. But necessity had
forced Their hand and They had finally gotten their way.
This new species will
flourish; of that They were certain. They would leave it to its own devices and
return later. They had Their own worlds to get to; places to rebuild, planets
to conquer. But They would watch over this planet from afar: it was rare for Their
species to get excited about something and this blue planet had done just that.
They would watch, but not interfere. They would hear but not speak. They would influence
but not control. Not until the correct branch emerged. They had after all, all
the time in the world. In all of the worlds, in fact.
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