The signal arrived at 2:17 a.m., breaking ten years of cosmic silence.

Dr. Marcus Hale stared at the monitor in the observatory, his breath caught between disbelief and fear. Humanity had sent thousands of messages into the void—greetings, warnings, prayers—but none had ever returned. Until now.

The transmission was weak, fragmented, pulsing like a fading heartbeat. As Marcus decoded it, a chill settled over him. The signal wasn’t a greeting. It was a record—coordinates, images of dying stars, worlds collapsing into darkness. And beneath it all, a single repeating phrase: This is the end of our sky.

As the hours passed, Marcus realized the terrifying truth. The signal wasn’t sent across space—it was sent across time. The civilization that transmitted it was gone, erased by something moving slowly but relentlessly toward Earth.

Governments demanded answers. Scientists argued. But Marcus kept listening, piecing together the final moments of a species that had seen its own extinction coming and reached out anyway.

Just before the signal vanished forever, a final burst came through—short, clear, and unmistakable: You still have time.

When the observatory fell silent once more, Marcus looked up at the night sky. The stars seemed unchanged, distant and calm. Yet everything had shifted. The universe had spoken, and humanity was no longer alone—nor safe.

The last signal was gone, but its warning had only just begun.