Time since the asteroid hit Earth: ~3.2 billion years (subjective to Aryan)
The planet teemed with complexity now.
Multicellular life had branched beautifully.
Eyes evolved. Limbs crawled. Wings fluttered.
And then — intelligence.
Not crude survival smarts — but abstract thought.
A bipedal species with crystalline skin and glowing neural clusters began shaping tools, drawing symbols in dirt, and — most shockingly — **looking at the sky with questions.**
Aryan Ved observed silently, embedded in the molecular frequencies of this planet.
> "They're early," he whispered. "Too early."
The species, whom Aryan called **Lumari**, began forming concepts that bordered on the divine. Not myths… but equations. They sketched particle interactions on cave walls. Sang frequencies that mapped magnetic fields.
> "They are sensing the design," Aryan realized. "They're sensing... me."
He pondered what to do.
Let them believe?
Or blur the truth?
Suddenly — boom — a radiant ripple.
> "OHHH BOY!" sang the **Light God**, appearing with a choir of floating emojis behind him. "Someone's kids are asking where babies come from!"
> "They're evolving too quickly," Aryan said. "They're close to decoding spacetime layers."
> "You mean they're smart enough to peek behind the cosmic curtain and see your math homework?" Light God smirked.
> "If they learn the truth too soon, it could stunt them. Turn their curiosity into dogma."
> "Or... maybe it inspires them," the Light God replied, unexpectedly serious.
Aryan hesitated.
He peeked into their temples.
The Lumari were worshipping an unseen voice — not one they heard, but one they imagined. They called it **The Architect**. They offered logic as prayers. Their leaders were scientists and philosophers.
One young Lumari even built a telescope that caught a flicker of Aryan's entropy field.
> "They'll know soon," Aryan admitted. "I have to choose — appear and shape their journey... or vanish completely and risk chaos."
> "What's worse?" Light God asked. "Being a silent god... or becoming a crutch?"
Aryan meditated for years. Then made his decision.
He gently diffused his energy across the planet's magnetosphere, leaving only subtle clues — enough to confirm the Lumari weren't alone... but not enough to lead them astray.
> "Let them walk the road," Aryan whispered. "But leave a light on."
The Lumari found his clues.
They translated particle echoes into music.
They etched star charts into stone.
And with every answer, their questions grew bigger.
Back in the void, Light God smirked.
> "So... you gave them breadcrumbs."
> "No," Aryan replied. "I gave them questions that will outlive them."
**— End of Chapter 8**