But peace would not endure for long,
Dark Hilluhengweh watched from space afar.
His jealous heart burned fierce and strong,
To bring again chaotic war.
In Terra's thirteenth billionth year,
When all seemed prosperous and bright,
He struck with gamma rays so drear,
And turned the day to deadly night.
The burst of radiation fell
Like thunder from the cosmic void.
It broke the ocean's living spell,
And left most lineages destroyed.
The seas that once were crimson red
With Rhodes' children everywhere,
Now held the corpses of the dead,
While few survivors gasped for air.
Of all the mighty red algae,
But two souls lived through that dark hour:
Brave Lifthasir and fair Embla,
They'd rebuild with what little power.
"We are alone," wept fair Embla,
"Our mighty kingdom lies in ruins.
How can we restore the formula
That made our line's great communions?"
"Fear not," said brave Lifthasir,
"Though few we are, we'll carry on.
Our children shall the race restore,
Though much of our great lore is gone."
But as they bred to save their kind,
Their children had to intermarry.
The genetic loss left them behind,
Their scrolls degraded, traditions scary.
Among their offspring came a queen,
Fair Florida with her consort true.
They built the kingdom Floridea,
But simple, not the glory they once knew.
"We are but shadows," sighed the queen,
"Of our ancestors' mighty race.
Our red has faded, we are green,
We've lost our former royal grace."
And so it was that plants turned green,
Not red as in the days of old.
The devastation had been seen,
The price of gamma rays was told.
The stromatolites' great cities fell,
Their towering spires turned to stone.
Where once proud civilizations dwell,
Now only ruins stand alone.
Yet in this post-apocalyptic time,
When most had fallen to despair,
Great Rhizar found his chance to climb,
And thrive in the poisoned air.
"The old order has passed away,"
Bold Rhizar spoke with vision clear.
"Now is the hour, now is the day,
For new lineages to appear!"
Rhizar bore two sons of might:
Great Nephillus and wise Filoses.
Each would walk a different sight,
As evolution's wheel composes.
Filoses bore two children bright:
Bold Chlorar and Thaumatus keen.
They'd face the world with all their might,
And build new realms where none had been.
Now Chlorar sought a different way,
He wed a daughter of Virita.
"From their union," he did say,
"Shall come algae's new margarita."
His children learned to photosynthesize,
Though not through ancient, stolen light.
They'd capture sun through their own eyes,
And make their lineage burning bright.
But Thaumatus chose a stranger path,
His sons were amoebae diverse.
Some bore shells to ward off wrath,
Others flowed like living verse.
Among Thaumatus' children came
One Paul, who envied others' power.
"Why can't I play the photosynthetic game?"
He brooded through each passing hour.
For nearly a billion years he tried,
To gain the gift of solar might.
He watched the heliozoans' pride,
But chose to walk a different sight.
At last his descendant Paulinellus
Found a daughter of Saya's line.
"I'll wed her," he said, "and thus
Make photosynthetic power mine!"
And so the second time in history,
Cyanobacteria joined a host.
This rare endosymbiotic mystery
Would be Paulinellus' boast.
"Behold!" he cried with joy supreme,
"I've broken evolution's rule!
The solar power, once a dream,
Now makes me nature's blessed fool!"
Meanwhile great Nephillus the strong
Bore children of a different breed:
Vampyrellida, fierce and long,
And Testatus, built for need.
Vampyrellida burned with heliozoan zeal,
Her spines reached out like solar fire.
"The sun's bright power I shall steal!"
She cried with vampiric desire.
But Testatus chose protection's way,
He built himself a mighty shell.
"Within my fortress I shall stay,
And weather every storm and swell."
From Testatus came two sons apart:
Great Radios with geometric crown,
And Gromius with massive heart,
The largest cells around.
Bold Radios floated like a sun,
His shell was geometric art.
With tentacles he caught each one
That came within his watery part.
The dinoflagellates found peace
Within his protective embrace.
He gave them shelter, sweet release,
A symbiotic dwelling place.
"Come dwell with me," great Radios said,
"I'll give you safety from the storm.
Within my shell you'll make your bed,
And keep each other safe and warm."
But mighty Gromius chose size,
He grew beyond all measure vast.
His body reached enormous prize,
With nuclei unsurpassed.
"I'll be so large," great Gromius boasted,
"That giants' eyes can see my form!
My millions of nuclei will be hosted
In chambers weathering every storm!"
Yet size brought its own curse along,
His waste piled up within his cell.
Though his body grew mighty and strong,
His garbage made a living hell.
"Alas," sighed Gromius in dismay,
"My greatness comes with bitter cost.
My waste I cannot cast away,
In my own filth I am lost."
From Radios came three sons of fame:
Great Zancleus who shed his shell,
Wise Retar the artist's name,
And Acanthar who forged so well.
Zancleus joined with Helios' clan,
He cast aside his protective home.
"A warrior I shall be, not man
Who hides beneath a sheltered dome!"
But Retar chose the artist's way,
He built shells of beauty rare.
His opal works still shine today,
With geometric patterns fair.
From Retar came two sons of note:
Bold Foramer with chambers grand,
And Polycyston, who wrote
His beauty in opal band.
Great Foramer built rooms galore,
Each chamber for a different need.
His house grew evermore,
A testament to his seed.
Among his children came three wise:
Great Nummulus of the coin,
Fair Esther with her gentle eyes,
And Monoth, master of the join.
Nummulus became the lord
Of currency and golden trade.
His coin-like shells were the reward
Of every deal that he had made.
"I am the god of wealth," he said,
"My children shall be currency.
In markets where the living bread
Is traded for prosperity."
But Monoth chose a grander scheme,
He built a kingdom ever-growing.
Each son fulfilled his father's dream,
New rooms and chambers flowing.
Some sons of Monoth broke away,
And founded kingdoms of their own.
The Xenophylophores today
Still rule from their giant throne.
Among them came two children bright:
Bold Spiculus with spines so sharp,
And fair Oceana, ocean's light,
Who plays the sea's sweet harp.
These giants of the microscopic world
Built cities vast beyond compare.
Their kingdoms through the seas unfurled,
With chambers everywhere.
Yet even as these realms took hold,
And life found ways to thrive once more,
The lesson of the gamma told
Of chaos knocking at the door.
For Hilluhengweh was not done,
His hatred burned like stellar fire.
He'd strike again when time would come,
To feed his dark desire.
But life had learned to be resilient,
Through devastation it would grow.
Each lineage brilliant
Would face whatever winds might blow.
The children of great Rhizar's line
Had shown that from destruction's hour,
New beauty could arise and shine
With evolutionary power.
So honor those who survived the blast,
Who built new kingdoms from the ruins.
Their legacy will ever last,
Through all time's dark communions.
From Hilluhengweh's gamma ray
Came not just death, but life renewed.
The survivors of that dark day
Would see their lineages pursued.
In every shell and every spine,
In every cell both large and small,
The memory of that design
Reminds us: life conquers all.