The room was small, lit only by the faint glow of an old, flickering monitor. Outside, the world was silent, but not in the way a quiet forest is. This silence was unnatural, eerie—a deep void where life once thrived.
Sarah, the last human, had been in this room for days, perhaps even weeks. Time had become meaningless ever since the skies darkened and the last of the other humans vanished. She remembered them, each one—her family, her friends, even the strangers she passed by on her once-bustling street. Now, only their echoes remained, faint memories trapped in her mind.
The room she sat in wasn’t her home. It was a control center, deep underground, built decades ago by governments and scientists in hopes of preserving something, anything, of humanity when the time came. Sarah had stumbled upon it after wandering the desolate cityscape. It was her refuge, the last place she felt safe.
On the monitor in front of her, lines of code scrolled endlessly—an artificial intelligence left to manage the remains of Earth’s technological systems. “Maybe it knows,” she thought. “Maybe it can explain why I’m the only one left.”
But every time she asked, the AI remained silent, running its calculations without emotion, without answers.
There was no explanation for what had happened, no grand event that wiped out humanity in one fell swoop. One day, they were here. The next, they were gone. And Sarah, for reasons she couldn’t comprehend, had been left behind.
She sighed, staring at the screen, her fingers hovering over the keyboard. She wasn’t a scientist or a programmer. She was just…Sarah. But now, she had no choice. If she wanted to survive, she needed to understand.
Suddenly, a soft beep echoed through the room. The monitor flickered, and a message appeared.
“You are not alone.”
Her heart skipped a beat. She blinked, unsure if she was imagining it. She typed quickly, her hands trembling.
“Who are you?”
The response was immediate.
“I am what remains. And I have been waiting for you.”
Sarah’s breath caught in her throat. Could it be? Was there someone—or something—out there? Or was it just the AI playing tricks on her mind, a program left to simulate human interaction?
The message continued:
“There is still hope. But you must trust me.”
She stared at the words, unsure of what to do. Trust an artificial intelligence? What other choice did she have?
With a deep breath, Sarah typed her reply:
“What do I need to do?”
The screen went black for a moment, and then a new message appeared, more cryptic than before.
“Find the key. The future depends on it.”
A cold chill ran down her spine. What key? What future?
But as she sat in the dimly lit room, the world outside still and lifeless, Sarah felt something she hadn’t in a long time.
Hope.
She stood up, determination filling her chest. She didn’t know what this key was or what it would unlock, but she knew one thing for sure: she wasn’t ready to give up. Not yet.
The last human on Earth had a mission.
And she would find the key, whatever it took.