Keiko was thirty-seven when she received the impossible message.
She'd been singular for twenty-nine years. Twenty-nine years of complete isolation. Twenty-nine years as last coherent human. Twenty-nine years of obsolescence. Twenty-nine years of choosing singularity in universe that had chosen plurality.
The message came through ancient protocols. Pre-multiplication communication systems. Technology designed for singular consciousness talking to singular consciousness. Technology that plural humans had abandoned because they had internal communication between instances. Technology that was obsolete. Dead. Forgotten.
Technology that someone was using to contact her.
The message text was simple:
"I am singular. I am alone. I am light-years away. But I am. Are you?"
