26 June 2050, 0700. NASA Headquarters.
"…the greatest defence system of humankind, able to neutralise any asteroids or foreign objects heading to Earth…"
The greatest defence system. The person sitting next to the radio that resounded from his phone snickered.
They placed that much trust in us.
It was exactly 7 am in the morning, and Sam still has not woken up from the drowsiness of sleep. He swallowed the bittersweet taste of coffee down his throat, feeling the warm fragrance that permeated his mouth. He stared at the screen.
So far, no anomalies.
He had one job, which was to facilitate the progress of NASA's new A.I model, POWDER. This A.I was built to recognise any incoming threats through the telescopes around the globe, and provide useful information to people like him in order to carry out plans. It has already gone through a thorough round of testing, and it came back with positive results.
Sam reclined back on his chair, flipping open a newspaper and surveying the news printed in straight, neat rows. Life was like this for him. Boring, but at least it wasn't stressful. Not to mention he was good at stuff related to A.I engineering. This job was perfect for him.
Sam felt his eyes stare straight into the gaps between the words as his eyelids felt heavy. A vibration shook him to his senses as he jolted awake.
He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, maybe from his languid state. He blinked once at the screen. Twice. Thrice. But what was happening was reality.
The screen flashed from a comfortable green to a bright, blood red in warning.
POWDER's gender-ambiguous voice rang out from the system, clearing his doubts.
"[The system detects an unknown object closing in on Earth. Its current position is at Mars, moving at a constant velocity. Judgement: Immediate action must be taken.]"
Immediate action?
"Show me the image of the object." Sam responded hurriedly, fidgeting with the handle of the coffee mug with sweaty palms.
"[Affirmative.]"
The screen flashed again, and an image of a shadowy object whose silhouette could only be seen with the backdrop of the Red Planet. But it's shape was unnatural – it wasn't round like an meteor, but rather…
It was cylinder-shaped.
"[Perhaps this image might be clearer.]"
The current image was overlapped with another one. The other was a similar image, but with the light from the Sun directly shining upon the object. But its appearance left Sam just as perplexed.
It was layered with a greyish sheen that contrasted against the starry background. At the edges of the long pillar is a mix of weird, intricate patterns swirling around in gold to form an image. Albeit it was blurry, Sam could make out the shape of a dragon within the pixels.
What the hell…
He sat there flabbergasted, wondering if everything was just a dream of his. It must be. Such an object shouldn't be able to exist, at least not within the knowledge of humans.
His phone shook on the table incessantly. He picked it up without hesitation, wiping his offhand against his jeans. But another thought ran through his head as he picked up the call…
Why did POWDER only notice the object now, of all times?
"*Hey senior, this is James. I wonder if you have noticed…*"
"Yes, I know. It's about the strange object, isn't it?"
A grunt of affirmation.
"*The higher-ups should also be well aware about this. Forgive me if I were to offend you, but are you sure it wasn't an A.I generated image by POWDER? She's an A.I, after all. It's still possible…*"
"No." Sam interrupted. "Generating images isn't in her directive. It shouldn't be possible."
James seemingly muttered something under his breath.
Turning to the computer screen, Sam recalled POWDER's words.
…moving at a constant velocity…
If the object is real, then…
Shit.
"POWDER, how big is the object?"
POWDER paused for a moment before responding.
"[Judging by the approximate width and distance from the object, its cylindrical base is around 3475 kilometres in diameter. In other words, it has the same diameter as Earth's Moon.]"
James also realised the severity of the situation.
"*Senior! If that thing were to hit Earth…!*"
POWDER finished his sentence.
"[Apocalyptic results would occur. The worst tsunamis, earthquakes incomparable to the 1960 Valdivia earthquake happening all around the globe. In other words, humanity will not survive. Judgement: Launch a worldwide procedure – evacuate all humans to shelters to minimise deaths.]"
Silence filled the office. Sam pinched himself, hoping he could wake up from this dream – or nightmare. It sounded so ridiculous, like it was straight out of some sci-fi fantasy film, but it was real. Everything he was seeing was real.
He wanted to ask POWDER why she didn't detect it earlier – perhaps it was a malfunction of sorts. But that wasn't his biggest concern.
"How long do we have until impact?"
POWDER paused for a moment, with lines of code filling the screen.
"[Approximately a week from now.]"
Sam sighed. There was still time, but not a lot. But if it was moving at that speed, then the question wouldn't be whether they could evacuate all humans to safety. Rather, it would be whether the human race would still exist.
His heart palpitated as his head felt lighter, coming to the sudden realisation. Everyone, himself included, is going to die. There was no escape.
"*Senior, should I report…*"
"No. Call the executives. We need an emergency meeting to form a plan. There's no…"
POWDER interrupted Sam's conversation.
"[Correction. 5 days from now.]"
Sam sat there shocked. What…
"[Correction. Object is unnaturally accelerating. At this rate, object will arrive in 3 days… 2 days…]"
A dark premonition sunk deep into his bones. Sam got up from his seat and hurried to the window, parting the curtains that did little to block the sun rays. But he noticed that the sun rays were a tad too bright.
Squinting his eyes, he stared at the sky, blanketed with a glaring white light.
His glass windows shook and cracked, making him flinch as he tumbled back. The whole floor violently moved underneath his feet, knocking him to the ground as his phone dropped, ending the call prematurely.
The computer fell and crashed next to Sam, forming a web of cracks on the screen as colours burst across it. POWDER stuttered.
"[I-n t-e-e-e-e-n s-e-c-c-c-o-n-d-s. J-u-d-g-e-m-e—n-t: e-r-r-r-o-r, s-y-y-y-s-t-e-m m-a-l-l-l…]"
He didn't need POWDER or anyone else to tell him what was about to happen.
This was the end of the world.
That was Sam's last thought before he blacked out.