David stood by the snack table, holding a glass of champagne in one hand and choosing something to eat with the other. Around him, his colleagues and people from other departments were celebrating, and he himself was satisfied with the work they had accomplished. The modular reactor, a prototype developed by him and his team, was about to revolutionize the energy industry. He knew that even if he died today, he had already done something meaningful with his life.

  On the stage, illuminated by spotlights, the head of their corporation appeared. Not particularly tall and not especially well-shaven, but wearing his signature turtleneck, he raised a hand to attract attention and called for silence. The hall quieted almost immediately, and people began turning to face the stage.

  “Colleagues—no, friends!” he said, scanning the crowd. “Today, we celebrate another breakthrough in science. Thanks to your hard work... and my funding,” the boss said, prompting the usual, slightly forced laughter to ripple through the hall.

  “Our modular reactor is ready, and at the end of the month, at our annual conference, we’ll present it to the world. Let’s give a round of applause to the colleagues responsible for this breakthrough.” A wave of polite applause spread through the hall, and many attendees turned to look at David and his team.

  When the room quieted again, the CEO continued. “But that’s not the only ace up our sleeve. I also want to congratulate the people from the robotics department. Their... unannounced project will also be revealed at the upcoming conference, and it’s sure to cause a stir.” A second wave of applause followed, and many people looked toward the area where the robotics department employees stood.

  The speech lasted a few more minutes, mentioning shareholders who were expected to be pleased with the announcement, offering thanks to several smaller teams, and reminding everyone that they had signed an NDA. Then the CEO cracked another joke and left the stage, allowing the employees to enjoy the evening.

  Robot waiters buzzed softly as they moved between guests on their caterpillar tracks. They looked like a cross between a Roomba and a forklift—nothing special—but thanks to the efforts of his colleagues in the AI development department, they could recognize dishes and use their primitive arms to deliver them to the guests who had ordered them, having memorized their faces and locations.

  David’s colleague Kevin approached and said, “Well, now we’re definitely getting that bonus—after all those boring jokes.”

  Kevin was one of the first friends David had made at work. Like David, he had moved to Texas for the job, leaving behind family and friends in his home state. It was easy to bond with Kevin over their shared love of science fiction—even now, a shirt with a trendy anime print peeked out from under Kevin’s blazer. They had gone through many months of hard work together.

  David smiled, nodded, and took another sip of champagne before replying, “Yeah, now we just have to wait for the end of the month.”

  Kevin laughed. “Let’s hope there won’t be as many deadlines.”

  They clinked glasses and returned to the festive atmosphere, unaware that their future was about to change forever.

  David woke up in a sweat—he had forgotten to turn on the air conditioning again. Being from the northern states, he wasn’t used to the Texas heat. The party had been great, but now it was time to get back to work. Getting out of bed, he headed to the bathroom.

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  After a quick shower, he looked at his reflection in the mirror: short, slightly messy dark hair, green eyes, a light stubble covering his chin. He ran a hand over his face, debating whether to shave, but decided the stubble wasn’t thick enough yet.

  In the kitchen, he made himself breakfast—scrambled eggs with toast and coffee. By habit, he reached for his phone, but the screen showed no signal. He frowned and turned the device in his hands.

  “Is the cell tower acting up again?” he asked himself, setting the phone down on the table.

  That happened occasionally in their fast-growing city. But the main thing now was work. They had to fix the remaining bugs and finish the wiring by the end of the week to finally connect the company’s main building to their reactor. His team of fifty people could handle it, but time was running out.

  Leaving the apartment, he got into his car and started the engine. Turning on the radio to catch the latest news—and maybe hear something about the cell tower—David was met with only static. He tried switching stations, but there was static everywhere.

  “Weird.” Maybe the issue was with the power grid? Whatever. David connected his phone to the car’s audio system and played his usual playlist.

  The road was eerily empty. Normally, traffic here was pretty bad, and in the mornings, he’d often get stuck in a jam. But David brushed the thought aside and focused on the day’s tasks. The engine hummed as he drove toward the office.

  David pulled into the parking lot of the office building, which resembled a giant donut. The lot was almost empty, and Kevin’s car immediately caught his eye.

  Huh, at least someone’s already here.

  It was hard to miss the new electric supercar—autopilot, tons of features. Kevin had spent almost his entire last bonus on it, but he loved his gadgets.

  David grabbed his phone, turned off the engine, and headed for the entrance.

  The doors slid open in front of him as he walked in, still focused on his phone screen. There was no security at the reception desk.

  “Well, thank God,” he said aloud—fewer meaningless small talk conversations. Still, the absence of security was strange. That had never happened before. But his habit of ignoring unnecessary details that didn’t help with the task at hand kicked in, and he dismissed the thought. Connecting to the office Wi-Fi, he opened his email and began scrolling through the backlog of work messages, diving into technical reports and bug logs.

  Walking through the wide hallways, he instinctively turned toward the correct wing—when suddenly, he felt something was wrong. He froze and looked up from his screen. Silence. Too silent. No neighbors mowing their lawns like every morning, no garbage trucks running on schedule, no other cars on the road.

  “Where is everyone? Eh, whatever. No one to distract me from work.”

  Suddenly, the lights went out. David froze, then quickly turned on the flashlight on his phone. The beam lit up the floor in front of him—and his heart stopped. Kevin’s clothes were lying there, neatly folded.

  “Kevin?” His voice came out uncertain.

  There was no response.

  The clothes were arranged in such a way that it looked like Kevin had been standing there one moment and vanished the next. His chair was slightly pushed back, a half-empty energy drink still sat on the desk, and crumbs from a recent snack were scattered across the surface.

  David’s heart pounded—he was suddenly full of adrenaline. He turned and ran toward the exit, nearly tripping in the darkness. As he lit up the hallways with his phone, he began to notice things he had ignored before. Here and there were more piles of clothing. Shirts, pants, shoes... Everything looked like people had simply disappeared, leaving their belongings behind.

  Reaching the entrance, he saw another pile of clothes at the security post. Swallowing hard, David bent down and spotted a holstered pistol. Hesitantly, he reached out and pulled out the weapon, gripping it tightly. A clear thought echoed in his mind: I might be alone. I need to be ready for anything.

  Trying not to panic, he ran toward the exit and smacked his face against the glass doors. Without electricity, the automatic doors weren’t working. Cursing, he stuck his hands between the sections and forced them open—they slid apart reluctantly.

  He burst outside, still clutching the gun in his hand.