The Helianx Proposition/page 49
The Helianx had always known that whichever world was chosen for Noe's long exile,
hir enormous size was inevitably going to be one of the most important issues
with which sHe would have to deal.
In their extensive travels they had never encountered
any other intelligent species quite as large as themselves.
This had even become something of an embarrassment on the rare occasions when
diplomats of other planetary cultures had insisted on being teleported up to the Great Ship.
The awe that these huge creatures would habitually inspire in their diminutive guests
did little to encourage intelligent discussion,
and frequently had resulted in the Helianx being worshipped as divine.
Indeed, had there been another intelligent race roaming the surface of the planet in those early millennia of Noe's arrival, they too, might well have attributed hir physical changes to godlike powers. But Noe understood that this was far too early in the evolution of life on this world to expect much beyond animal instincts and the inevitable horror of predation. SHe also knew from hir previous experience that other beings, on subtler frequencies than sHe could perceive, were likely to be more than aware of hir, although sHe could only guess at what they made of hir unexpected appearance.
The celestials, however, having laid down the original patterns of life, now appeared to have stepped back from the evolutionary process, merely to observe the fruits of their labors from the wings. After they had recovered from their initial surprise at Noe's arrival, and had seen that sHe represented no obvious threat to their plans, they chose simply to ignore hir and trust that MA had its own unknowable reasons for allowing this to occur. They all appreciated that this was an experimental planet and apart from the initial modifications they had been encouraged to make in life-design, who really knew what possibilities would unfold as a consequence of Noe's presence? After watching Noe's harmless activities for a few more million years, the celestials became reconciled to hir presence. Much to their relief, sHe appeared to be almost entirely involved with hir own internal processes and when sHe was not exploring the oceans of hir new world, sHe could be found lying motionless in a state of self-induced hibernation in the cool waters of the southern polar regions.
The only real change the celestials had noticed over the aeons was Noe's gradual, but persistent, shrinking in size and they agreed between themselves that this was ultimately of no concern to them. MA's instructions, followed faithfully by the celestials since the first planets were seeded with life, were strictly hands-off. Even though the Life Carriers were permitted to experiment in the initial stages of evolution, as held true on every tenth planet, once the life processes had taken hold, they were required to step back. The pleasure the celestials then derived from their work lay largely in observing the unanticipated and fascinating interactions between the increasingly complex life forms.
