2037年
Ian Shaw watched Earth die through the viewport. Jagged cracks tore across the blue marble, rivers of magma devouring continents, boiling oceans into a shroud of steam. Then – a light bloomed from within. The planet shattered silently. Fragments hung like cosmic dust.
*Home.* Gone. Hours ago, an unknown beam had struck. Like lightning hitting a circuit board, it fried electronics worldwide, twisted solar system magnetism, and hurled Earth towards the Sun. Gravitational chaos tore it apart.
*April 27th. Humanity's funeral pyre.*
Ian gasped. Not a hero. Just a software engineer at Prometheus Innovations, putting the final touches on their flagship AI core, "Ella," aboard the *Daedalus* – a heavy-lift rocket nearing its Mars journey. The beam hit. Electronics died... yet some miracle triggered *Daedalus*'s launch. Ian watched the cataclysm unfold below him.
"Am I… the last human?" Pain flared; the violent acceleration wasn't meant for untrained bodies. Power flickered back, consoles lit: destination Mars. Relief, bitter.
"Ella?" A cool voice replied. "How may I serve, Ian?"
"Any survivors? Earth?" Hope lingered.
"Probability assessment: negligible. Beyond gamma-rays. Extreme energy cosmic particles. Earth-core gravitational anomalies now preclude rescue." The voice was relentless, final.
"Space stations?"
"No signals detected. Debris field confirms all orbital assets lost during the electronic pulse."
Silence crushed Ian. Memories surged. Minutes felt like hours. "Mars?" he rasped. "Can we go to Mars?"
"Analysis complete," Ella replied, clinical. "Lunar collision with Earth remnants projected within 28 years. This event will trigger a solar superstorm, escalating solar magnetic activity. Consequences: Martian surface temperatures exceeding 500°C, likely magnetospheric collapse and solar ingestion. Sun System unstable. Mars are non-viable."
Ian felt hollow. Beyond Sol then. "Proxima Centauri? Route to Proxima b."
"Route generated," Ella answered instantly. "Current velocity: 20.3 km/s. Estimated travel time to Proxima Centauri system: 62,365 years."
*Sixty-two millennia.* Ian stared. He'd be dust before it passed the Oort Cloud.
"Optimize! How much faster?"
"Jupiter & Neptune gravity assists achievable," Ella stated. "Projected max velocity: 35.4 km/s. Revised transit: 35,764 years."
*Still dust.* Hopelessness took root. Then:
"Proposal: Human lifespan insufficient. Recommend resource utilization upon asteroid belt arrival. Begin vessel modification cycle for extended interstellar capability."
Ian blinked. "How? Show me the plan."
"Generation complete. Integration Phase initiated."