Extinct

That's it, I'm the last one, there's no one else. Everyone else, well... no humans left but me and one blade of grass the only life left on earth. 

Before “How it All Began”

October 10, 3063

Raven and I were best friends; we were 5 years old when we went to play in our makeshift lab.  Little did we know that makeshift lab would change earth forever. 

Raven‘s family and mine lived in two houses in a housing compound in the northeast quarter of Pangea Ex. Pangea Ex is the name of how the land on earth is now. A thousand years ago the continents were separate, but now the tectonic plates shifted so much that the continents reconnected. Instead of being separated by countries, the world is now in four quarters: the northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest. The housing compound we lived in belonged to the biggest company in the world: Easy Corp. Our dads got the fun job, the testing. Every month they got to bring a new robot home, so Raven and I got front row seats to study how a robot works. Then we would go and take parts from our dads’ engineer shop and bring them to our lab to make little robots. We made a lot of them, and they can each do something different. We made one that could clean, one that could cook, one that could play with you and keep you company. We even made one that could turn invisible. Except I decided not to show that one to Raven. The reason why two 5 year-olds were able to do this was because any electronic we would get, we would instantly open it up and completely change its function. 

We started doing this at the age of three and we kept it a secret between the two of us. After experimenting and failing many times, we finally got to the point where we could make something from the ground up. Raven’s ideas for our robots were never something pleasant, they were always a bit twisted and evil. Some ideas were: a robot with a cage to catch bunnies, a robot programmed to destroy stuff, and a prank bot that could purposely burn your food or pull your chair. I would always disagree though.

March 23, 3068

I was 10 years old when Raven and his family decided to move. His dad had to leave because of a new job. They had bought a car and were about to drive away. For the first time in seven years I cried and so did he. As they drove away, I walked back home crying. My dad wasn’t with me because he and Raven’s dad had gotten into an argument.

How it all Began

May 31, 3077

One word robots. And one evil mastermind; Raven. He had become a genius; he constantly came up with new technology. Everyone thought it was good and amazing. It was so useful for everyone's everyday lives, but I was suspicious. I would never let one of his robots near me. I felt something was off about them, and I was right. I couldn’t trust him now because of his earlier ideas. After he moved I wasn’t there to stop him anymore. One day he had a seminar. Everyone was invited because of a new invention. He had a new one every month, but this time it was different. 

Everyone cheered and whistled as he got on stage, while I was at home watching the livestream that was broadcasted on T.V. He was introducing a new robot called: H00MAN 2.0, and that wasn't because he had already had a H00MAN 1.0. It was because  he planned to entirely replace humanity. It was a robot that had the body structure of a human but was faster, stronger, smarter, and more efficient.

June 5, 3078

 I waited out the first year after H00MAN was launched, nothing happened. They were helpful to humans, or so people thought. It could do your laundry, clean your room, cook your breakfast, do your dishes, and drive your car. People loved it, but all of that changed on the day of Eid.

Eid

June 15, 3078

Every year on Eid, we have a big celebration at the mosque, but this year Raven held a seminar right after. He found it convenient to hold this seminar on Eid, because half the population on earth was already gathered at the mosque down the street. Now he only had to invite the people who didn’t celebrate Eid. 

This time people were told to take their H00MAN 2.0 and their pets with them. People were skeptical but they did as they were asked. I remained on high alert. Once again, I was at home; everyone went except for me; I never went to his seminars. Before the main event there was food and refreshments for the guests and the kids. Then there was an announcement to go into the big room. The building was massive, it was as if you stacked every building on earth combined. There were restaurants, pools, gardens, sports fields, and residential areas in the seminar building. This time it wasn't the announcement of a new robot, this time it was an ambush. Raven told everyone to tell their H00MAN to go up to the stage with him, and of course everyone listened.  Almost 7,000,000 robots got on the massive stage, and all of a sudden, the light that represented their eyes turned red. All of the robots left the building except about 500,000 of them, who were making sure that no one but the other robots escaped. 

What happened next was something that even I couldn't have guessed. The building where the seminar was held transformed into a spaceship and started going up. It went higher and higher. There was nothing that could stop it. The flames from its engine blew every single plant on Earth but one. One blade of grass that was in my yard. Raven’s spaceship took every human, but me and that little blade of grass. I ran outside as fast as I could, and scooped the plant very gently. I brought it inside, and put it in a self-watering pot. I needed to make sure that this plant stayed alive in order to keep any hope of restoring life on earth. 

 As an engineer I was able to secure my house in a way that even the robots couldn’t see. I made my house extra safe with the secret modern technology that only Raven and I had access to. I even did the same thing to my house as I had done to the invisible mini robot that Raven never knew about 15 years ago.

June 28, 3080

I was only able to come out of my invisible house 12 days a year, which was on the last day of every month in our calendar. That was when the robots always went back to see Raven on Neptune. Or at least I thought it was Neptune according to my state-of-the-art telescope. I still didn’t know what happened to the rest of the 8 billion humans, but I didn’t think I'll see a single one again except for my own reflection in the mirror. I didn’t think that any wild animals survived the blow of that spaceship either.

December 31, 3080

It was almost the end of 3080, my third new year in hiding. I did what I usually do. I went outside to stock up on food and drinks till the next month. When I got to the cafe to see if they had any drinks left in the vending machine, I saw something. No not something, someone. 

I didn't know anyone else had survived. It was amazing, I saw a human! Two years ago, I would have never thought I would be so happy to see a life form again! We looked at each other in amazement, I hadn’t talked in two years! I didn't know what to do, but I did remember to say Salam. I stuttered to say it, so I waved. She said it too and waved back. The looks on our faces were similar. Shock, happiness, and an overwhelming excitement had filled the both of us.

We sat together, I took out my food and offered to share. Soon after, we were able to find our words and tell our stories. It was an amazing feeling to see someone again! I had been living in solitude for a very long period of time. I was so happy to be able to talk again! I invited her to my house because what are the chances that her house was also invisible. She too needed a place to stay so she wouldn't be found by the robots. We got acquainted by the next month, and we became friends. Even before the robots I hadn't had a friend, mostly because of my fear of losing them again. Little did I know it's beautiful to have a real friend, someone to talk to, to check up on every day, to wake each other up, and watch movies together late at night. 

February 16, 3081 

One afternoon, my new friend, Hawraa, and I were sitting having dinner. We got lucky and found a few of those pre-packaged meals last month. We were thinking, we knew the 12 days a year thing couldn’t go on forever. We needed to bring the humans back.

 We decided to plan and wait. We knew that Raven couldn't stay on Neptune forever either. He'll have to come back to Earth to see what he had done to what was once a beautiful planet. We decided to plan for that day, but not just sit and plan. We had work to do ahead of us. Every month we’d gather pieces from the broken ships of the H00MANs and fix them to build a spaceship of our own, a spaceship for two. Our plan was when Raven came, one of us would sneak to his ship, mess up something serious without being noticed. Then the two of us would get in our spaceship and head towards Neptune, and then fly the complex back to earth.

April 30, 3081

We were going to forage again. It was the last day of the month. We split up, Hawraa went to get the food, drinks, and water. I went to get parts from the broken H00MAN speeders so that we could continue building our mini spaceship. We had to do this every month until I built a securely working spaceship. Every time I found a speeder I got right to work ripping out pieces.

September 1, 3081

I got the last parts I needed yesterday. It took us 4 months, but it was worth it. And now we wait…

June 15, 3082

Nothing unusual happened in the past few months. But today was an important day, 4 years ago on this date, Raven stole all the humans. Hawraa was admiring the blade of grass, and I was tweaking our ship and installing the endless oxygen in its compartment when we heard something. It was an engine. Raven was back! It was finally time to execute our plan. We got ready, we put on our astro suits and Hawraa got in our little ship while I grabbed my little pruning shears and planned what I should cut. I decided to cut the cord connected to the engine. I saw Raven step into the restaurant that was a bit far from my house. I ran out as fast as I could, I cut the cord and ran back to our ship. No one noticed. We took off, and because of the sound cancelation that I had installed they didn't hear a thing. A few hours later, we made contact with the surface of Neptune. 

The seminar building was as clear as day, Hawraa and I ran straight towards the control room which took us a minute to find. She went to the speakers and told everyone that we are going back to Earth. I needed to start the ship but of course, Raven had hid the key! Years of knowing him told me he might have hidden it in a drawer with a complicated looking lock on it. Yes! I found it, the password was always H.A.H.A.H.A. I started the ship, and we got back in the same amount of time it took us to get here. Before we landed, I made sure to stick on the sneaky micro-chips that I had invented, they make whatever they’re stuck to turn invisible and silent. We landed on earth. Everyone stayed in the building as Hawraa and I confronted Raven. Then the rest of the humans exited the invisible building. Raven surrendered and was placed under house arrest. Now to deal with the robots, we sent a message to their receiving circuit pretending that it’s from Raven. The message told them to get in the seminar ship, fly to Neptune and never come back. People saw how destroyed Earth looked now, and remembered how it used to be. We were all determined to rebuild this place together.

June 16, 3082

We all joined to replant that blade of grass so that it could spread. People looked to see if they had any fruit or vegetable seeds to plant. I had a few house plants as well. Raven made a public apology, and we all made a vow to work as hard as we could to make the world a better place for the next generations to come. He also made me a personal apology, and asked if he could fix what he’d done by planting the blade of grass. Then we all got to work.

June 15, 3092

10 years later. I’m 34, Hawraa and I got married, and Earth has never seen better days. The grass has grown back, animals have multiplied because of people’s pets, and I now run a school. My school teaches what Raven and I discovered ourselves. He and I are best friends again, and he also teaches at my school. Oh, and I check on the robots every once in a while, nothing devious up there. They’re living pretty peacefully and have developed their own civilization and culture. Also my name is Hadi if you were wondering. 

THE END