All Tomorrows

During a particular era, geologic upheavals threw up huge masses of land over the shallow oceans of their world. The Hedonists, until then trapped on a singular island no bigger than today’s Iceland, were not late to colonize these new pastures. This was more of a necessary exodus, since the events that raised the new lands had also thrown up enormous clouds of ash that smothered the atmosphere and blocked out the sun. Their innocence finally spoilt, most of the Hedonists died out, unable to adapt. The only survivors were fast-breeding freaks who had abandoned the reproductive quirks of their ancestors. It was these forms that colonized the newborn continent and gave rise to a multitude of species which included the Satyriacs, sentient heirs to the Hedonists.

These beings resembled their ancestors to a great degree, except that they now sported enormous “tails”; boneless organs of balance woven out of extended pelvic muscles and fat. Along this appendage, their entire bodies were re-oriented in horizontal, almost dinosaurian postures. Although they had abandoned the frantic reproductive strategies of their ancestors, their social lives still retained a delightful tint of casual promiscuity.

The Satyriac civilization was quick to establish itself globally, for even with the additional landmasses, the terrestrial domain of their world remained no larger than Australia. For a while three and then two land empires competed each other, before dissolving into a myriad smaller nations and finally re-unifying into a coherent world order. From this point on, the Satyriac world once again became a Valhalla of pleasure, with festivals, concerts and ritualized orgies punctuating every working week. This time, however, it could all be savored by true intelligence.

Satyriac audience goes wild as the performer hits the climax of his song. Such events are an everyday part of the Satyriac life.

Bug Facers (Descendants of the Insectophagi)

Over time, their insectivorous ancestors came to resemble their prey. Hardened, leathery faceplates, once used for defense against stings and bites, ossified and became integrated into the jaw structure. Their hands and feet, with reduced numbers of fingers and toes, developed into pincer-like affairs. Even their metabolism reverted partially into ectothermy in the balmy, lazy climate of their planet.

But it was none of those adaptations that gave them the edge in survival. Simply put, a congenital defect allowed them to regain their sentience. Even after the smothering by the Qu, the genes of the Star People remained dormant in their cells. Through pure coincidence, one lineage of the Insectophagi developed an atavistic throwback, resulting in larger brains. Which just happened to be useful in cracking open insect nests with crude stone tools.

It was easy ride from there on. Although millennia-long in itself, the development from stone ax to spaceship was an eyeblink in geological time. Like many other species, the Bug Facers passed through consecutive cycles as agrarian (in their case hive-farming) empires, colonial endeavors, industrialization, massive world wars and finally, globalized world-states. But there was one thing that set their development apart from all other post-human species.

They faced another alien invasion.

History does not record much about the invaders, except that unlike the Qu, theirs was a singular effort and it was beaten off in an intense cycle of orbital and terrestrial wars. Although vanquished, the invaders did succeed in leaving behind their traces. They introduced their own flora and fauna, which flourished on the Bug Facer home planet long after they departed. More importantly, they imbibed the poor Bug Facers with a pathological inter-species xenophobia, to the point that they were fearful even of their post-human cousins on other stars.

Through an ironic twist of fate, their fears would be more than justified, though not just yet. The Bug Facers still had time.

A Bug Face celebrity, arguably the most beautiful girl on their planet, poses before a coastal village. In the distance can be seen gasbag-like tree creatures, relics left over from the mysterious alien invaders.

Asteromorphs (Descendants of the Spacers)

Initially refugees, the Spacers were quick to master the vastness of interstellar space. Their isolated space arks joined together and multiplied to form a gigantic, interlocked artifact that was large enough to contain entire worlds. But no planets lay inside the Asteromorph capital; only cavernous, gravity-free bubbles where the inhabitants could finally develop to their fullest.