> I didn't detect it coming. I first noticed it on a webcam feed, of all places. It must have come out of an observational blind spot. Solar glare alone cuts out a quarter of the sky, to say nothing of our enormous coverage shortfalls, but now's not the time for retrospectives.

After reading the story it makes me think of a quote from a Bujold book, where one fantasy character talks about how it was a godly miracle that 300 heathen invaders were completely eradicated after their grave sin of murdering one local saint, and another character retorts.

Adjusting that response to fit:

"I would be considerably more impressed with your global nanotech overlord AI," said Ista through her teeth, "if He could have arranged a few satellites worth of simple detection in advance, rather than several billion lives' worth of gaudy evacuation afterward."