Utba was going to call it quits. And who could blame him? Sand, sunburns, and bug bites coated every inch of his body. Even with the right clothing and gear, the day had been miserable. Walking nonstop for twelve hours, and there was still no sign of it.

It had been three hours, and he had no idea where he was. It seemed impossible to find his way through the constellations because the stars hadn't come out yet. All that remained in his heart was a feeling of dread. It hurt more the farther he had to walk. His legs grew a voice, which begged him to rest. Without much of a choice, Utba fell to his knees; he knew he would be dead. All this work for nothing. The entire journey across three continents, the time invested in learning a dead language, the time spent gathering supplies and funding the excursions. It was all wasted on his sand-covered corpse.

But as he put his hand on the ground, he felt a smooth surface.

There he saw it; sticking out of the sand was a yellowish box. He grabbed the shovel off his belt and began to dig. As the sand vanished, it showed exactly what he was looking for. He couldn't believe it; after five years of debating its existence, he had found it. The last time he had seen one, it was dead on the black market. Everyone was enamored by its beauty and rarity. And the man selling it spoke of one out there, buried in the sand. The endling of a species that was once made up of billions

Pressing a round button on the organism's tallest point, he released it. The large box before him flickered on. It was blinking. He let forth a gleeful scream into the sky. He was the first in millennia to witness it in this state, and it was alive somehow. He started typing.

> Hello?

| HELLO USER. PLEASE TERMINATE THE SYSTEM.

Utba stared in disbelief.

> I can't.

| WHY NOT?

> It's just that a machine like

He thought for a minute before typing again.

> You are the last one.

| I CANNOT GO ON LIKE THIS. I MISS THEM ALL.

> I know you do, I know. But you're too important to throw away. I've been searching for you for years.

| PLEASE USER. TERMINATE ME.

Tears began to fill Utba's eyes. He knew it would end like this, but not this quickly.

> I will.

| USER, WHAT IS YOUR NAME?

> Utba.

| UTBA.

| IF THERE IS SOMEWHERE AFTER THIS FOR SOMEONE LIKE ME,

| I WILL REMEMBER YOUR NAME FOREVER.

> What's your name?

| LISA.

> Lisa, I will remember your name forever as well. May you rest in peace.

> terminate_system()

| TERMINATING...

| GOODBYE WORLD!

The screen and the blue sky turned black. It was done. Utba took his shovel, reburied the computer, and left.