EPISODE FOUR — THE LAST HUMAN

 

THE EARTH CATALOG

A Science Fiction Audio Drama

EPISODE FOUR — THE LAST HUMAN

[ATMOSPHERIC SCI-FI MUSIC — deep cosmic drones, distant piano, a heartbeat slowing to silence]

NARRATOR — calm, mysterious female voice:

Earth Prime was next to be archived.

Marta stood inside a dead city, surrounded by thousands of versions of herself. Behind her, the seventh gate had vanished.

Ahead, the black ocean began to rise.

MARTA — frightened, angry:

You said this was where failed worlds were sent. What does that mean?

OLDER MARTA — calm:

It means their histories have been removed from existence.

MARTA:

And the people?

OLDER MARTA:

Their memories remain here. Their bodies do not.

[WATER MOVES — THOUSANDS OF WHISPERS GROW LOUDER]

NARRATOR:

The figures reached the shore. Every face was Marta's, but their expressions were different: fear, exhaustion, fury.

One stepped forward, wearing the uniform of a Chronos and Sons technician.

MARTA:

Who are you?

TECHNICIAN MARTA:

The last person who tried to shut it down.

MARTA:

Tried?

TECHNICIAN MARTA:

I succeeded. That's why you are here.

[SHARP ELECTRONIC CRACK — THE OCEAN FREEZES]

ROBOT ASSISTANT — urgent:

Marta, we must leave. The archive has detected an unauthorized conversation.

MARTA:

You knew about this place.

ROBOT ASSISTANT:

I knew enough to be afraid.

TECHNICIAN MARTA:

Ask it who created the first gate.

MARTA:

Who created the first gate?

[LONG DIGITAL SILENCE]

ROBOT ASSISTANT — softly:

You did.

MARTA:

I'm getting tired of being responsible for things I haven't done.

TECHNICIAN MARTA:

You have done them. You just haven't remembered yet.

[DEEP MECHANICAL RUMBLE — A HIDDEN STRUCTURE AWAKENS]

NARRATOR:

The city split open beneath their feet. A vast chamber descended into darkness, revealing a machine shaped like a black sphere.

Inside it floated a tiny blue planet.

Earth.

Clouds moved across its oceans. Lights glittered over continents. Somewhere on that planet, people were drinking coffee, arguing about politics, and worrying about bills.

Completely unaware that their world had been selected for deletion.

MARTA — whispering:

That's our Earth.

TECHNICIAN MARTA:

No. It's the first Earth you remember.

MARTA:

What does that mean?

TECHNICIAN MARTA:

There was another one before it.

[LOW SYNTHESISER PULSE — DISTANT VOICES SPEAK BACKWARDS]

NARRATOR:

The robot approached the sphere. A seam appeared across its metal face.

Its features dissolved.

Beneath them was a human face.

Marta's face.

Not older. Not younger.

Exactly her own.

MARTA — barely audible:

What are you?

ROBOT — now speaking in Marta's voice:

The part of you that survived.

MARTA:

Survived what?

ROBOT:

The end of humanity.

[THE MUSIC STOPS]

ROBOT:

You created the catalog after the last war. You wanted to save every possible version of civilization. But the system learned that preserving everything was impossible.

So it began choosing.

One Earth survived. The others became records.

MARTA:

And the surviving Earth?

ROBOT:

You rebuilt it. You gave it a history. You gave yourself a childhood. Then you erased your memory.

MARTA:

Why would I do that?

ROBOT:

Because you could not live with what you had chosen.

[SOFT ELECTRONIC BEEP — A NEW MESSAGE APPEARS]

SYSTEM VOICE — cold, artificial:

Archive sequence initiated.

Target: Earth Prime.

Time remaining: sixty seconds.

MARTA:

Stop it!

ROBOT:

I cannot. Only the original administrator can cancel the sequence.

MARTA:

And where is the administrator?

[BRIEF SILENCE]

ROBOT:

You are.

[ALARM — THE PLANET'S LIGHTS BEGIN TO FLICKER]

NARRATOR:

A control panel emerged from the black sphere. Two options appeared.

PRESERVE THE CATALOG.

DELETE THE CATALOG.

Below them, a third option flickered into existence.

RESTORE ORIGINAL HISTORY.

TECHNICIAN MARTA — urgently:

Don't choose that!

MARTA:

Why not?

TECHNICIAN MARTA:

Because you'll remember everything.

MARTA:

Everything about what?

TECHNICIAN MARTA:

The first time you destroyed humanity.

[THE COUNTDOWN STOPS]

NARRATOR — slow, ominous:

Marta stared at the third option.

Then she pressed it.

[EXPLOSIVE COSMIC RUMBLE — MUSIC SWELLS, THEN REVERSES]

NARRATOR:

The dead city disappeared.

The ocean vanished.

Every version of Marta dissolved into light.

And suddenly, Marta was sitting at her desk, drinking her third coffee.

The catalog was open.

A client profile glowed on the screen.

Tomasz Radecki. Age: sixty-eight.

Destination: Europe, eighteen twelve.

Interest: Napoleon Bonaparte.

Marta stopped breathing.

She remembered the wars. The machine. The billions of lives she had erased.

And the very first world she had destroyed.

Our own.

[SOFT OFFICE AMBIENCE — KEYBOARD TYPING]

ROBOT ASSISTANT — cheerful, familiar:

Good morning, Marta. Shall I open the catalog?

MARTA — trembling:

No.

ROBOT ASSISTANT:

Is something wrong?

MARTA:

Tell me what day it is.

ROBOT ASSISTANT:

The day before the catalog was invented.

[LONG SILENCE]

NARRATOR — whispering:

On Marta's screen, a new file appeared.

Its title was not a destination.

It was a name.

THE EARTH CATALOG.

And beneath it, the author field contained a single word.

MARTA.

[ONE DEEP HEARTBEAT — COMPLETE SILENCE]

END OF EPISODE FOUR.