Creators of Worlds

Part - I

Arja and Mesha lay on the soft grass, looking up at the star-spangled sky.
"Everything seems so different from a distance", observed Arja. Mesha did not respond. His thoughts were far away. 236 million light years away, to be exact. He hadn't yet spoken to Arja about it, didn't know how.
The sky started becoming lighter as morning approached. Arja sighed with satisfaction, "We've done some fine work here Mesha. Veda will be pleased." This time when Mesha did not speak, Arja turned to look at him. "You have decided, haven't you?" Mesha looked at Arja, startled out of his reverie.
"How did you know?" "We have been working together for 6 eons now, Mesha. I know you have been thinking about it for a very long time now." Mesha couldn't help smiling at the know-all attitude of Arja. He had always been a delight to work with.
"What I don't understand is why", continued Arja. Mesha spoke slowly, wondering himself whether he made any sense at all, "There has to be something beyond the life that we know. We go far and wide, spreading beauty and life. Not once have we looked back to see what happens after. I want to know, I want to see for myself."
"Veda won't like it at all, you know" Arja frowned. Veda, their master, liked everything to follow a set path. Mesha smiled, "I know. But it's not her decision to make." After all, she had raised him to be inquisitive and imaginative. Veda, his mother, had chosen him for this job because she wanted to put his creativity and intelligence to constructive use. "Never would she have thought that this might happen", Mesha thought ruefully.
"It's time", Arja said. He hugged his friend tightly, not knowing when they would meet again, if they would meet again. As the sun came overhead, Arja powered on his stellar transporter and beamed himself into infinity.

Part - II

Mesha gazed around him. He was proud of what he had created. As he watched the Brontosauruses gracefully moving in the distance, he thought of all the planets that Arja and he had "beautified". That's what their job was - beautifiers of the universe. Whenever a new galaxy came up, Veda, the administrator of the universal body, would select a few planets with optimal conditions and send them to create life there. These planets became the oasis in the vast desert of the universe. Mesha had jokingly created deserts and oasis on these planets as a tribute to their work! He even used to give names to each planet to remember it by. But over time, Mesha had grown curious. He wanted to know what happened to these planets after they left. Did the life they had created ever wonder where they came from?
"Now I'll find out", he thought, pleased with himself. But it would be a long stay and Mesha needed some place to relax. He decided that the core would be the best place for him as nothing that he had created could possibly disturb him there.

Part - III

It was not a very long wait before things started to happen. Mesha was mesmerised as he watched the planet and its life change. The dinosaurs and other monolithic animals went and were replaced by new species of life. The surface of the planet also changed.
Mesha was intrigued by a species that soon grew to dominate the planet . It was resourceful and took over the whole flora and fauna in no time. It multiplied faster than Mesha had expected. The population developed ways to gather, grow and cook food. Soon, it started developing intellectually too. It started asking the question that Mesha wanted them to ask - what is our origin?
But it had its flaws. It was greedy. There were groups of the population that fought with others, divided the land into pieces and then fought some more over these pieces of land too.
As the species progressed, so did Mesha's concern. With developing technology, their battles became more bloody. It seemed as if they were oblivious to the damage they were doing. Soon the beautiful planet that Mesha had created was turning into a junkyard. Animals and birds perished, trees burnt and rivers and seas dried up. The species itself turned into a monster, devouring itself in a desperation to survive.
One terrible morning, when the surface of the planet felt as hot as it core, Mesha came out of his hiding place. He cast one last look at the remains of the almost dead planet, drew out his transporter and left.

Past-IV

Mesha lowered his head, "I shouldn't have left you. It was a bad idea." Veda smiled at him, "No, it wasn't. You need to make your own mistakes, though I wish for this one you had talked to me first. I could have saved you a lot of time." Mesha looked at her with surprise.
Veda explained, " Long before you were created, the elders of the universe decided to create beautiful places to live all across space. They sent us to build worlds on planets and asked us to return immediately, as they wanted the worlds to flourish without our influence. I was just like you, curious and inquisitive. I wanted to find out what happened after we left. So after one such creation, I decided to stay back. It was lovely at first, watching new species bloom and blossom. But soon, some or the other species on the planet became greedy and started ravaging the planet. It was chaos, until the entire planet caved in under the rampage. Heartbroken, I came back and told the elders what I had seen. They decided to dedicate a group of administrators to creating new worlds as old ones were destroyed, so that life could go on."
Mesha was quiet. This was his ultimate lesson. The creator cannot stop. The creator must not stop....