"First there was a vast emptiness, not unlike the space currently around the Hope.

"Within this emptiness, there was a glob of writhing mass of meat. It was unexpectedly huge. Based on my speculation, it was as big as several Earths combined. Furthermore, it was emanating rays of eerie light…

"As the rays shot at the folds of flesh, the meat started decaying and breaking. Bones and sinews started falling apart from the mass of meat. Yes, I felt that it was dying, dying from old age…

"But the process took a long time, taking perhaps several millennia to complete. Using curvature navigation to travel through space on its last legs of life, it stumbled upon a life-supporting planet. It disintegrated just before entering the planet. The excess muscles and weight were abandoned into space while the glob at its disgusting center shot into the planet.

"The growth process that followed was equally long. After another several millennia, a native civilization appeared on this planet. I