The Signal Beneath the Ice

In the year 2079, Earth's climate had collapsed beyond repair. The last remnants of humanity had migrated to scattered survival cities under domes, but not all hope was lost—scientists had found signs of something ancient hidden beneath Antarctica’s thickest ice sheet.

Dr. Lena Morozova, a cryoseismologist, led the expedition funded by the Global Alliance. She didn’t believe in ancient civilizations or alien relics. She believed in data, and the anomaly the satellites picked up was emitting regular pulses—radio signals in a binary sequence.

Her team drilled for nine days. On the tenth day, they broke through.

What they found wasn’t a cave, or a ruin, but a perfect metallic sphere—ten meters wide, humming with energy. Etched on its surface were strange patterns that flickered like electric veins. The binary pulses now turned into a voice. Not human. Not machine.

It whispered: “You are late.”

Panic swept through the research station. Lena stayed. She traced the patterns on the sphere and suddenly—

Everything stopped.

Her mind flooded with visions. A dying planet. A warning. A countdown.

The sphere wasn’t sending a message.

It was waiting for an answer.