The Announcement

I awoke to the pitter-patter of light rain outside my window. It was a soothing sound, one I hadn't heard in many weeks. It doesn't rain often, so whenever it does, I make sure to enjoy the peaceful sound. 

Ever since I moved to the city, I'm constantly bombarded by loud noises and flashing advertisements, the latter of which never seem to end. But on days like today, I'm reminded to appreciate the world I live in. No LED screen or human comtraption can compare to the beauty of mother nature. At least, not yet. 

It's Thursday, so naturally I have work. I'm an accountant at a lawfirm a few blocks down, and while the pay is very high... so is my rent.

It's a shame, when I moved to Tuskei, the 4th biggest city in the world, a few months ago, I frankly expected to be in a better position than I am now. Not to brag or anything, but I was kinda a "bigshot" back in college. Not only did I win several awards for my various inventions, I graduated as the top engineer of the class of 2359, quite the acheivement if I do say so myself.

But I never really had the passion for the craft. I barely attended classes, rarely studied, and always did my assignments at the last minute. Does that make me a genius, or just lucky?

That's a retorical question, obviously it makes me a genius.

And yet here I am, working a mid-level job as an accountant in an lawfirm that, honestly, isn't doing good business. I wouldn't be surprised if they were about to declare bankruptcy. Though I suppose I'd be the first to know, since I'm the accountant.

I checked the time to make sure I wasn't going to be late, it read 7:42am, perfect. That gives me 48 minutes to put on my uniform and walk to work by 8:30am. I don't own a car, turns out it's extremely expensive to have one when I live in the city. Not because of the fuel, but because there's no where to park that doesn't cost a fortune.

I rolled out of bed quite dramatically, and stood up in the middle of my small studio apartment. I took off my pajamas (yes, I sleep in pajamas) and opened my drawer to pick out a pair of pants.

"Tough choice today" I said sarcastically as I looked at my options.

The drawer only had jeans in it, so I grabbed the top pair and put them on. I threw on the gray company shirt with the logo for "Ivera Law" in the top right, then walked in the bathroom to freshen up.

I'm not a morning shower guy, and I never have been. I took my shower last night, so all I have to do this morning is fix my hair. I looked into the mirror at my light blue eyes and glanced up at my messy brown hair, then took some product and my comb to straighten everything out. After that, I brushed my teeth, grabbed my breifcase and umbrella, and headed to work.

The walk to work was uneventful, it always is. When I first moved here, this walk was a sensory overload. The advertisements on every building displaying an array of flashing colors, the constant honking of cars stuck in traffic, and the street performers entertaining tourists were things I wasn't used to seeing back in my hometown.

But now it had grown dull. I was numb to it all. I felt I was doing the same thing, day in, day out. As the rain tapped on the top my umbrella, I wondered, is this all I'm good for?

I was the top of my class, a self-proclaimed genius, and I'm once again walking to a job where I'll be asked to multiply two three-digit numbers together for a colleigue that makes twice my salary. I just wish I could do something with my life... something meaningful.

I stopped breifly to ponder in thought. It only lasted for a few moments. I looked back up at the bright signs on every building displaying hundreds of products.

"I wonder how much money these ads cost. Does anyone even look at these?"

I continued my walk for a few more minutes until I reached the office building. Ivera Law was on the 16th floor of a 72 story skyscraper, so I walked into the lobby and went toward the elevator, but there was a sign posted at the elevators:

Broken - please use stairs.

Just fantastic.

A wave of annoyance rushed into me, but thankfully, situations like these are the exact reason I leave my apartment early. I still had about 15 minutes to make it up these stairs, and how bad can 15 flights of stairs be? That's like, a whole minute per set!

Pain.

My legs are throbbing. I might look in shape, but if there's one thing I've never been good at, it's anything physical. You might be wondering how an attribute as broad as "physical fitness" accounts for just a single flaw in my mind, but for the sake of my pride, that counts as just one thing. Not debating it.

I had climbed 10 sets of stairs in 12 minutes, but I was completely exhaused.

"Hey Dusty." Said a female voice.

It was Ali, a fellow accountant. I knew basically nothing about her other than she was quite popular in the office, a contrast to me, who wasn't. She had long brown hair, green eyes, and wore an office uniform similar to mine, except her pants were brown.

"Hi Ali." I said, obviously exhausted.

"It's Abby" She replied.

Oh, right... her name is Abby.

I've never been good with people. I dislike being around most of them. In fact, I always do the bare minimum amount of social interaction necessary to complete whatever it is I'm doing. In this job, I have never, not once, needed so-called "Abby" to help me with my work. She asks me for help pretty regularly, but it's always something easy. Maybe she just isn't that smart. Thankfully, I'm not dumb enough to say that out loud.

"Are you coming to work? You've got another 5 flights to go."

She pointed to the sign that read "floor 11"

"I can read, thank you. Yes I'm coming. I might be a bit late."

Abby turned and continued up the stairs, the clicking of her heels echoed throughout the stairwell for a few minutes, before finally fading away.

I opened the door to my office 10 minutes late, out of breath, and very, very thirsty. I was just about to sit down when I head some commotion a few offices down. Normally, I wouldn't care, but today I had arrived late. If I didn't show my face to someone, then every minute I sit in this office is a minute I'm not getting paid for. And honestly, I can't afford the 10 minutes I already missed.

When I rounded the corner, what I saw was quite unusual. Everyone was in the conference room, staring at the TVs. It appeared to be news of some kind. As I opened the glass door to the conference room, I couldn't tell for sure what the news was, but judging by the few people who looked my way, something was off.

"Dusty, have you seen this?" Abby asked.

"What?" I replied.

"Quiet!" She barked, "Watch."

I looked at the TV and listened closely to the report.

Ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for sticking with us for so long. For those of you just tuning in, we have received a message from what we believe to be the future. This is unprecedented, and for the last hour, our team has been debating on whether to play the message for you all. It is, frankly, unsettling.

However, we have decided that it is in the interest of not only our nation, but our entire world to play it for you all. So, please take a listen:

The news cut to a black screen, and a female voice began to speak.

"Attention everyone. My name is Rachel. I am sending you this message from almost 1 year in the future. For you, the date is September 12th, 2359. In exactly 1 year, a single human will completely destroy the planet. Not metaphorically, literally. Everyone who is on the planet when it is destroyed will not survive. From what I know, the individual behind this will be bald and have blue eyes. Their motive is unknown. As proof I am from the future, in 3 days and 4 hours, star 6037b will collapse on itself. Please evacuate the planet, it's your only hope."

Utter silence swept through the room.