For many billions of years, humans—having conquered the curse of aging—spread throughout the entire Milky Way. They are able to live all their dreams, but to their great disappointment, no other intelligent species has ever been encountered. Now, humanity itself is on the brink of extinction because the universe is dying a protracted yet inevitable death.
They have only one hope: The ‘Rescue Project’ was designed to feed the black hole in the center of the galaxy until it becomes a quasar, delivering much-needed energy to humankind during its last breaths. But then something happens that no one ever expected—and humanity is forced to look at itself and its existence in an entirely new way.
Genre: FICTION / Science Fiction / High Tech20.000+ sold world-wide
“Breakfast, John!”
Kepler lifted his head. This butler annoyed him.
“Johannes! How many times do I have to tell you?”
“Excuse me, Jo... hannes.” The butler pronounced the name with an English ‘J.’ Incorrectly.
Kepler sighed. “Think of it as a ‘Y.’ Yohannes.”
“Wy-o-hannes.”
“Never mind. Just call me Kepler.”
He got up from the seat in which he had spent the night in sleep mode. He imagined fresh coffee and croissants.
“Very well,” said the butler, “I’ll call you Kepler.”
The butler bowed flawlessly, as far as Kepler could tell, and led him into the neighboring room. Where did Zhenyi ever get this antiquated model? He estimated its age to be at least two kilocycles. Old-world butlers had come into fashion again then for a short time. He had externalized his memories of that year on Terra, so he couldn’t remember any other details. But this butler could be several mega-years old. Who knew these days? Kepler wondered whether he should ask him, but that seemed somehow improper. The butler was a machine, but he played his role so believably that Kepler felt a certain respect for him.
“Please excuse me, venerable Kepler,” said the butler, “for not meeting your language requirements. My vocalization memory is no longer as flexible since the last mega-flare from K2-288B.”
“Why haven’t you repaired it?”
“It wasn’t a priority.”
Of course, Kepler thought. How long had Zhenyi been underway? The butler hadn’t had anything to do for a few cycles, until Kepler’s arrival on K2-288Bb.
“Your breakfast,” said the butler, pointing at the table.
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German
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Already translated.
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Spanish
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Already translated.
Translated by Nicolay Giraldo
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