We thought the machines, the extraterrestrials or even the gods themselves would come down and stop us.
We had it seemingly coded within us, thinking there was some hard boundary that we would not be allowed to cross.

But no one came.
There was no one to stop us.
No one to contain our endless ambition.
The universe had no natural mechanism to contain such an intelligent virus, and indeed that is what we are.

From world to world galaxy to galaxy we leapt,
ever quicker ever more hungry.
We became all the things that our ancient fantasies and fictions
told us we would fight.
We became the machines, we became the extraterrestrials
and even greater than the gods themselves,
whom we gave up trying to find eons ago.

We knew now that anyone in existence who dreamed of gods, dreamed ever so dimly of us. Or they would,
if there was anything left that could dream.
Here in the infinite cold dark,
a universe stripped clean like meat off of a bone.
There was an old saying that we came from dust,
and to dust we shall return.
We rest content now,
knowing we took all creation with us.