"The Last Signal"
In the year 2137, Earth was silent. Not because people were gone, but because nobody spoke
anymore — everything was controlled by thoughts and neural links.
But in a quiet corner of Delhi, 15-year-old Rian Kapoor discovered something ancient and
forgotten: a radio. Dusty and covered in vines, it lay buried beneath the ruins of what once was
an old science museum.
Curious, Rian powered it up using a solar patch from his smart-jacket. It crackled. For a moment,
nothing. Then — a voice.
“This is Station X-9... Is anyone out there?”
Rian froze.
He hadn’t heard a human voice outside of neural transmissions in his entire life. It felt... warm.
Real. Alive.
“Hello?” Rian whispered, unsure if the radio could hear him.
“We are the last humans on Mars Colony Zeta. Earth has been offline for 73 years. If anyone
hears this... respond.”
He couldn’t believe it. Earth was thought to be the only human-inhabited planet after the collapse
of the Space Colonies.
Rian worked quickly, rigging together old tech and his neural tools. After days of trial and error,
he sent a message back.
“This is Rian Kapoor. Earth is not dead. I’m here.”
The reply came instantly.
“Rian, we need your help. Our systems are failing. You may be our last hope.”
With the help of AI drones, scavenged relic tech, and his sharp young mind, Rian built a beacon
to boost Earth’s signal across space. It worked.
Two months later, a Martian shuttle landed outside Delhi — the first spacecraft to touch Earth’s
surface in almost a century.
Rian looked up at the sky, heart pounding.
This wasn’t just history.
It was a new beginning.