Chapter Text
Illustration:The fossil of an extinct, aquatic human from a forgotten colony world. Unbeknownst to the universe, his kind adapted, flourished and died out soon after the Qu retreat. His tale serves to tell us that all that is alive will inevitably perish, and it is the journey, not the conclusion that matters.
Not all human animals made it through. In fact, it must be realized that the majority of post-Qu humans died out during the eras of transition. Extinction, the utter and absolute death of an entire family, entire community, entire species, was rampant in the galaxy.
There was nothing cruel or dramatic in all of this. Extinction was as common, and as natural as speciation. Sometimes a species simply failed to adapt to competition, or the abrupt change of conditions. In other occasions, their numbers dwindled across imperceptible gulfs of time. This way or the other, human animals faded out.
In all of this death, however, there was new life. As one species vacated a certain niche, others would soon step in to take its place. Adaptive radiations would follow, filling in the blanks with myriads of diverse and varied forms. Despite the fallen, the flow of life would proceed, blazing in constant turnover.