Stephen Heins

Shaking Your head, You snap Your fingers with a pitying frown, triggering the ᴇxᴇᴄᴜᴛɪᴏɴᴇʀ to start its course. You hate the ᴇxᴇᴄᴜᴛɪᴏɴᴇʀ—hate the very idea of the thing—though You understand its necessity. Best make this one quick, get it over within a couple of minutes; nothing like those poor Permians had to go through.

This will be attempt number six, You think with exasperation and melancholy. That makes five failures thus far. So much for divine perfection. Oh well, who’s going to care that things were reverted to the drawing board a few times? Things change; life runs its course. It doesn’t mean that positive aspects were completely nonexistent this time around, it’s simply time to move on. Yes, that's a good way to look at it. Still, You’ve grown quite fond of the odd little creatures down there. You can’t help it, it’s in Your nature. But, as the writings will one day proclaim, “if one loves something, one must let go of it”. Let whatever happens, happen. Though, in Your case, You know exactly what’s going to happen—again, it’s in Your nature—and just wish the whole thing could come about with less violence. You could theoretically change this fact, of course—make it all just fade away in an unseen, grandiose miracle—but that would mean breaking the rules that You, Yourself, have set, which is something You vowed never to do.

The ᴇxᴇᴄᴜᴛɪᴏɴᴇʀ is getting close now. It really is beautiful, hurtling through the cosmos like this. Such a minute thing for so gargantuan a task. And You know that the impact is going to be spectacular from afar. An explosion like never before; one that will never be replicated. One that will ring the entire planet like a bell and send a flaming cloud over its entire surface, swallowing all life, aside from the few scavengers lucky enough to wade through its wrath. All of it makes You sad.

You think this time You’ll make the Mammalia class predominant over the land, it’s time they had their run. Reptiles and avians will still dominate many ecosystems, of course, as will amphibians and invertebrates. But with mammals… Just think of what’s to come! This time, The Plan will finally come about. Because that’s what all of this has been leading up to. The beauty of raw life can only go so far without that extra spark, that nudge into higher level existence—into the soul.
(Cogito, ergo sum…)

Yes. Mammals are the key. Mammals will adapt in all the necessary ways. With adaptation will come upright dwelling, with upright dwelling will come learning, with learning will come sophistication, with sophistication will come tribalism, and with tribalism will come awareness. From there You’ll be able to communicate with the spirits of Your creation, as they will finally reflect Your own image back to you. Finally…

Impact. The ᴇxᴇᴄᴜᴛɪᴏɴᴇʀ becomes a colossal cloud of flame as it strikes the land. The planet trembles; its inhabitants attempt to outrun the inevitable. Solemnly, You say Your final goodbye to the beauties of Your craftsmanship, reminding Yourself that this had to be done, that these creatures, as wondrous as they are, were simply not fit.

The mushroom cloud dissipates, leaving a huge, nasty gash in the Earth’s crust that will heal in due time. A shell of smoke envelopes the entirety of the planet, just as You knew it would. The whole thing is actually quite ugly. You look away, thinking of the future. You hope to never end up in this position again. You hope Your creations to come will behave themselves. Either way, this malevolent act of extinction cannot be replicated. You abhor fire. Maybe, if ever it does come to this again, You’ll use water instead. 
God forbid.