"And they're bi-sexuals, too," said Xeluchli. "It's a shame. I wish we could do something."
"Yes, but you know what the rules are," reminded Orena. "We can only watch. We can't help them."
"I know," said Xeluchli a little crossly. "A bunch of poly-sexuals and sixth-degree intellectuals make rules and we're supposed to obey them. You know, I'm tempted to interfere. No one would know."
Orena objected, but she was really in favor of violating the rule, too, and after a while she let Xeluchli have his way.
"We'll start the civilization over," he suggested. "It was low in some qualities at the very start, but if we begin it over again with two above-average specimens I'm sure it will turn out better this time."
"We'll save one of each sex and destroy the rest of the race," agreed Orena. "It will be just like one of the controlled experiments in the laboratories of Arcturus 7, but on an even larger scale. Oh, this will be interesting!"
"We'll go down to the planet ourselves," said Xeluchli, "and pick the two creatures we'll use. We'll guide them and their descendants for a while until we're sure they'll turn out all right."
They had been heading down toward the planet and now they landed on a mountaintop. "Shall we stay together?" asked Orena.
"No, let's each of us observe the creatures separately at close range for a while. Then, after we've seen enough to make a good choice, we'll pick two of them and destroy the rest."
"We'll each pick one," suggested Orena. "You pick the female and I'll pick the male."