This was the test.

There were the apologists, and they took themselves out of the discussion almost immediately. 'No means no,' they said, and for them, that was that. You can't argue with someone who would sooner kill themselves than leave Earth.

Then, there were the Survivalists. At least, that's what they called themselves: "We're here because, in the eyes of evolution, we deserve to be here. We are fit, and we are going to explore the galaxy. If other species can't handle that, that's their problem."

Surprisingly, the Survivalists were not the most aggressive of the Humans.

There were the righteous, "We are God's/Allah's/Whoever's chosen people. This virus is not a curse, but a gift from our chosen religious deity. It proves that we were meant to inherit the universe, and no fragile, heathen life form is going to stop us."

But it was the Accusers who were the real danger. They were deluded, or they deluded themselves into believing this one truth: the Aliens had infected them. In some cases, they believed the Aliens had been infecting humans for years. In other cases, they claimed it was an interstellar accident.

In any case, the Accusers were set out for revenge. They blazed a path of death and destruction through the furthest reaches of the Galaxy, setting fire to alien worlds, "an eye for an eye."

What they didn't understand was that this was their test. There was no virus. There were no aliens. They fought phantoms, and ghosts.

There was only them, and me.

It was not they, the humans, who failed. In the end, it was my own fault.

I thought, since I had created them, I could control them.

Now, I understand, they can't even control themselves.