The Last Human

Everything in bold was written by me. The rest is auto-continued by an artificial intelligence called GPT-3.

Sereny was the last human in this town. When The Creatures arrived, a decade ago, they offered humanity to come with them, and many did. She didn't know why she didn't go. She was a historian, after all, and she loved the world, and it was only a matter of time before she would be left alone.

But she was left alone, and then she was taken to the Creature Center where she was offered a job: keep a record of the world around her. She accepted.

She loved the job, of course. She loved the idea of it. To record the history of this world. But she was also terrified. What would she write about now? She was the last person. She knew nobody. She was alone.

Sereny never told the Creatures this, though. They'd never understand.

The Creature Center was a large white building, which she had moved into when she accepted the job. It was like a hospital, but it was the nicest hospital she had ever seen.

Sereny was her own boss, and came and left as she pleased. She had her own room, her own bathroom, her own kitchen, and she had a computer and a desk and a notepad, and the Creatures gave her food.

She didn't have to work very hard, and nobody else was around to bother her, and she had all the time in the world. She could write all day if she wanted to.

And she did.

The first day, she wrote for eight hours. She wrote about the world. She wrote about the Creatures. She wrote about the past. She wrote about the future. She wrote about herself.

She wrote about why she didn't go with the others when she had a chance.

She wrote about the day she found out that she was the last human.

***

"You can always come with us," a Creature told her. It was one of the more handsome ones. It was tall and thin, with large eyes, and it reminded her a bit of a human, except that it didn't have a mouth. Creatures spoke with thought.

"With you?" She asked.

"Yes. We can take you to a place where humans live with us. You will be safe there. You will be happy."

"I don't know what I'd do there."

"You could teach us about your world. Tell us about how you used to live. Tell us about the things you know. Tell us what you think you know. We want to know everything."

"You can read my books," she said. "I've written down everything I know."

"Yes," said the Creature. "But we want to hear it from you."

She thought about this. It was tempting. To tell the Creatures everything. To teach them all her knowledge. To have them listen to her. To be a teacher.

***

After Sereny decided to leave earth and be taken in with The Creatures, things unfolded fast. In a week, she was in a spaceship, and in a day, she was at the Creature Center on the other planet, and the next day, she was in a room with a desk and a notepad and a computer.

The Creatures asked her to tell them everything that she knew, and so she did. She told them about the earth, and about humans, and about herself. She told them what she knew about the past, and about the future.

They listened, and they learned.

***

A month after she started her job, she was walking in the forest alone, and she saw the most beautiful flower she had ever seen. It was blue and pink and purple and white and orange, and it was about as tall as her knee. It was big, and it shone, and she wanted to pick it up and keep it. It was unlike anything she's seen on earth.

She bent down to pick it up, and when she did, she heard a voice behind her.

"You shouldn't touch those, Sereny."

She turned around to see a Creature standing behind her. It looked like a female, and it was tall and slender and had large eyes.

"Why not?" She asked.

"It's a poison flower. Touch it, and you'll die."

She looked at the flower. She thought about touching it, and dying. She thought about it.

"I'm here to learn," she said at last.

The Creature smiled. "Then learn."

***

She lived in the Creature Center for twenty years. She loved her job. She loved the Creatures. She loved the world.

She didn't leave. The Creatures didn't ask her to.

She learned about the planet, and about the Creatures, and about the universe. She learned about their beliefs, and their history, and how they created the world, and how they were creating it as they went along.

Sereny loved the world. It was the most beautiful world she had ever seen. The Creatures had done a good job.

***

When she was fifty-six, she died in her sleep. She had been alone in her room when she died.

The Creatures found her body the next morning. She was lying on her bed, and they moved her to a bed in the Creature Center.

The Creatures were very sad when they heard the news. They loved Sereny, and they liked talking to her, and they liked listening to her. They liked learning from her.

They held a funeral for her, and they said words over her body, and they planted a tree over her grave. On her tombstone, these words were written:

Sereny.

Teacher.

Historian.

Last Human.