C1 Prologue - The Last Ordinary Day
No one knew that today would be the last ordinary day on Earth.
The morning looked the same as every other morning.
People rushed to work.
Children went to school.
Farmers worked in their fields.
Students complained about exams.
Airplanes crossed the sky while ships sailed across the oceans.
Nothing felt different.
Then, at exactly 12:00 PM UTC, every electronic screen on Earth suddenly turned black.
Phones.
Televisions.
Computers.
Digital billboards.
Even satellites stopped transmitting.
For three seconds, the entire world fell into silence.
Then a single line of white text appeared on every screen.
«"The Final Test of Civilization will begin in 10 minutes."»
No logo.
No company name.
No explanation.
People laughed.
"It must be a prank."
"A hacker?"
"A new movie promotion?"
Social media exploded with theories.
Governments tried to trace the source.
The world's greatest programmers searched for answers.
Nothing worked.
The message could not be removed.
Five minutes later, another message appeared.
«"Every human between the ages of 16 and 60 has been selected."»
Fear slowly replaced laughter.
News channels reported the same message across every country.
Military forces went on alert.
Scientists searched the skies.
Religious leaders prayed.
Families began calling each other.
No one understood what was happening.
---
A young man sat alone in a small apartment.
His name was Aiden.
He was twenty-two years old.
An ordinary graduate with ordinary dreams.
He looked at the strange message on his phone and frowned.
"This has to be fake..."
But something felt wrong.
The room was too quiet.
Even the birds outside had stopped singing.
He walked to the window.
The busy streets below had become crowded with confused people looking up at the sky.
Then...
The countdown appeared.
«10...»
No one moved.
«9...»
Car horns stopped.
«8...»
The wind disappeared.
«7...»
Even the waves in the sea became still.
«6...»
A child started crying.
«5...»
People began running.
«4...»
Some prayed.
Some screamed.
Some simply stood frozen.
«3...»
The clouds split apart.
A giant golden circle covered the entire sky.
It was so large that no one could see its edge.
«2...»
A calm voice echoed across the world.
It was neither male nor female.
It sounded ancient.
«"Humanity has completed the Age of Technology."»
«"The Trial of Civilization will now begin."»
«1...»
Aiden felt the ground disappear beneath his feet.
The light swallowed everything.
The world turned white.
Then...
Darkness.
...
Far beyond Earth...
Across an endless ocean...
Millions of empty islands waited silently.
One by one...
Lights began falling from the sky.
Each light carried a single human.
A new history...
Was about to begin.
