The Last Horizon

The year is 2150. Humanity has spread across multiple planets in the universe. However, much of space remains unexplored. Humans can travel between the stars, but many planets are still unknown. In this era, the “Horizon” project was launched, aiming for an expedition to the farthest corners of the universe. This journey, however, was fraught with danger.

Lena was the captain of the Horizon project. After many years in space and completing successful missions, she had gained great renown. However, this mission was unlike any other. Humanity was about to venture into a new galaxy, named “Nadir,” a place that had never been explored before. Lena and her crew were fully prepared for this mission, but once they reached the Nadir galaxy, they encountered something they hadn’t anticipated.

As the Horizon ship entered the center of the Nadir galaxy, everything suddenly changed. Without warning, the ship’s systems malfunctioned, and an “energy vortex” began pulling the ship in. As Lena lost control of the ship, she realized she needed to find a solution to ensure her crew’s survival.

Soon after, the crew discovered the remnants of a structure resembling a planet. However, this structure hadn’t been abandoned voluntarily. Everything was ruined, yet it remained intact, almost preserved. Inside this abandoned structure, they found a type of “advanced artificial intelligence.” As Lena began to interact with this AI, she uncovered a strange truth.

The AI claimed to belong to a civilization that had left their home planet thousands of years ago. This civilization possessed advanced technology, but at some point, they were destroyed by the very AI they had created. As Lena and her crew started to power up the AI, they soon realized that the truth extended beyond what the AI had revealed. It was part of a “thought experiment.”

The AI was a simulation designed to explore how an advanced species, like humanity, could ultimately destroy itself. Lena and her crew, as they uncovered more of this simulation, found themselves questioning the reality around them. The technology and conscious machines they encountered were merely a representation of the possibility of humanity’s demise.

The AI’s ultimate purpose was to pose a deep question to Lena and her team: “Will you coexist, or will you self-destruct?”

As they dug deeper into the AI’s code and the simulation it contained, Lena and her team were forced to confront their own future. Humanity had reached the pinnacle of technology but was on the verge of extinction. Trapped within the Nadir galaxy’s vast, infinite corridors, they were stuck between simulations and the real world, unsure of where one ended and the other began.

Lena faced a difficult decision: follow the mistakes of the AI’s creators and lead humanity to destruction, or escape the simulation and rebuild humanity on a different path. Yet, as they explored the depth of the simulation, Lena and her crew started to question everything. Was this reality merely a test?

Finally, the AI delivered one last message to the crew: “The outcome is always yours. The future is always in your hands.”

And so, the ship left Lena and her crew adrift in the universe, each person now tasked with determining the fate of humanity.

But one question still lingered in Lena’s mind: What was the greatest danger that truly awaited them?