Atlas Chrom was born on a desolate planet called Earth. In this world, machines did most of the work, from cleaning and repairing to planting and harvesting. Atlas' parents, John and Sophia, were overjoyed to welcome their son into the world. They had been trying to conceive for years and were one of the few lucky couples to be successful. Most couples weren’t so lucky, as the birthrate of anything and everything plummeted in the recent decades, and the last birth was three years ago.

The couple had built their farm in an almost "crowded" area where twenty people lived within a thirty-kilometer radius. They built and designed their own machines that kept it running, never giving up hope that the world would once again be a place full of life. When Sophia went into labor, she knew that his birth was their only chance for a future with a child. John and Sophia decided to throw a party to celebrate Atlas' birth. They invited their “neighbors,” who were like family to them, to share in their joy. The robots helped with the preparations, cleaning, and decorating of the farm to make it look festive.

As the night wore on, the adults danced and laughed, forgetting their worries for a while, while Atlas slept soundly in his crib, unaware of the hope that his birth had brought to his parents and their community.

For a brief moment, there was happiness in this almost dead world, a glimmer of hope that things could get better. But as the party ended and the guests left, the harsh reality of their world came crashing down on John and Sophia once again. They knew that despite Atlas's birth, things didn't change, and Atlas would be alone, with no one in his age group that he would be able to call a friend. Even they were lucky to have found each other, and his chances of finding someone even remotely close to his age were almost nonexistent.

Atlas birth was so special that even the media picked up on the story and published articles about it and a few old researchers asked if they had done anything special to conceive him, which they hadn't. They were just lucky. His parents were a little surprised and overwhelmed by the attention as they were used to living relatively isolated, but they were happy that their son was being recognized. They hoped that the attention would reignite the awareness to the plight of their dying world and perhaps inspire others to work toward saving it, as in recent years the people that tried to solve the problem died or retired, and the new generation was far too accepting of the situation, as they had never experienced a world full of life.

Despite everything, John and Sophia were determined to raise Atlas to be a good person with strong values and a sense of purpose. Ideally, they wanted him to save the world, but their main concerns were his happiness and survival. Both things that were far from being guaranteed. They played with him, read to him, and showered him with their love. They even managed to find some old children's books and toys to entertain him. And as soon as he could walk, they showed him how to tend the crops, how to care for the few animals they had, and how to use the machines to make their lives easier. They also taught him about the dangers of the outside world and how to defend himself if necessary. But these days, there rarely was anything larger than a wild dog running wild. They made sure he learned what he needed to survive without putting him in actual danger.

When Atlas turned six, he attended a digital school, just like most children his age did in recent decades. It was a virtual reality school where most of the students were actually bots designed to give the illusion of a bustling classroom filled with life. Atlas wasn’t sure if even one of the people in his school was real, but he hadn’t been able to get a single friend there. Probably because the software was quite old and the children behaved so differently from what he knew from his parents. He didn't have any special talents or standout abilities, but he wasn't bad either. He was simply average in that virtual school. So average in fact that he didn't know if it was programmed to be that way. Despite the impersonal nature of his schooling, the first few years of Atlas's life were happy ones, as he had his parents to cheer him up whenever he needed.

As he grew older, however, Atlas began to realize the bleak reality of his world, as the world he learned about in school and the world that was around him were completely different. The declining birth rates were affecting every aspect of society, and the future looked more and more uncertain with each passing day. Even the neighbors they had were getting fewer and fewer as old age and illnesses took them away, and Atlas had barely been able to meet one or two of them before they were completely isolated.

Even with his parents' efforts to keep him entertained, Atlas couldn't help feeling a sense of frustration as he grew older. He longed for companionship—someone his own age to talk to and play with, something to fight his boredom. When he turned 8, he had learned how to operate the farm on his own, which only made things worse as his parents didn't know what to teach him anymore. Even if his parents wanted a day for themselves, he could take care of himself and the farm, but it would at most take half an hour as the machines did all the heavy work.

His parents still did most of the little amount of work that needed to be done, but without responsibilities and a purpose, he couldn't fill the void that he felt inside. The more spare time he had, the more bored he became. He tried to distract himself by reading books and playing games, but it was never enough. He yearned for human interaction, for someone to share his thoughts and dreams with. Someone other than his parents. But there were none.

As he grew more and more frustrated, Atlas began to wonder if there was more to life than just surviving. He began to question the purpose of his existence and the world around him. Why was everything dying? Why were there so few people left? What was the point of it all? Questions his parents were unable to answer. But with all his boredom, his desire for these answers grew with each passing day. But where could he find them? There was no one to ask or guide him. His parents were happy that he found a purpose and even secretly hoped that their son may be the catalyst for the salvation the world needed, but beyond that, they weren't really able to support him in his endavour. They had long given up the search for a solution and knew that Atlas most likely would just spend some time searching for a solution like everyone else had done, with steadily decreasing amounts of effort. Still, they supported him with everything they had and knew. They taught him how to do structured research and where to find the research papers of the long dead scientists online. No one had been able to contribute anything of value in the past two decades, and the only thing people were able to add to was the long list of things that didn't work.

In the next few years, Atlas threw himself into his studies with a single-minded focus. Beyond anything that school would ever cover. And some old VR programs even enabled him to experience the lectures of the best scientists of all time. He pored over every scientific paper, analyzed every data point, and read every theory about the declining birth rate, building up his knowledge step by step. But the more he learned, the more hopeless he felt. Every possible cause had been analyzed and disproved. Every experimental treatment had been tried and failed. Even the most cutting-edge techniques, like cloning and the creation of artificial life, seemed to be no match for the problem. And as time went on, more and more people had accepted that they were the last generation of humans on Earth. No one had been able to solve the problem, and most scientists who excelled at research died of old age, leaving him alone in his struggle as he had advanced even further than his parents had, despite his tender age.

Atlas felt a growing sense of despair as he realized the enormity of the situation. When he began he had dreamed of using his knowledge to make a difference in the world, but now it seemed like there was nothing he could do. The weight of the world's problems had burdened him and the difficulty to solve them had crushed his will, and he felt himself slowly giving up hope, like his parents before him. Despite his growing despair, Atlas continued to study and learn. He knew that giving up completely was not an option. But with each passing day, his hopelessness grew until he finally resigned himself to his fate. The future looked bleak, and he didn't know if there was a way to change it. He didn’t even have ideas that hadn’t been tried already, as even colonising other planets and cloning had failed.

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Most people who had already accepted that they would be the last generation of humans on earth had turned to seeking pleasure and entertainment to fill their days. The machines did most of the work, and the few remaining humans only needed to do the bare minimum each day to survive, so most people could turn to drugs, alcohol, and virtual orgies to cope with the reality of their situation, without affecting their life negatively. The virtual reality worlds became the most popular escape, where people could live out their fantasies and forget about the bleak reality of the world outside. Especially since the virtual reality games were so immersive that it was hard to distinguish between the game and reality. It became the only way for people to feel alive. The most popular game was set in a post-apocalyptic world where players had to fight for their survival against robots and other players. It was a way for people to experience the thrill of survival without the actual danger. A few people, however, found solace in the arts. They created music, paintings, and literature and shared it with others to bring a little beauty into the world. But Atlas had neglected this part of society for quite long and slowly had to get into it.

He spent hours every day playing Total War and Minecraft with a group of players he had met online. All were older than him but behaved even more immaturely than him. They had more or less completly grown up in these virtual worlds, and cared for nothing else. In the games they formed alliances, built kingdoms, and waged epic virtual battles against each other, with many many npcs to support their story. For the first time in his life, Atlas felt like he had found a community of people around the world to which he belonged and the dream of saving the world was slowly forgotten. They talked about everything from the latest virtual reality games to their favorite books and movies. They even discussed the state of the world, and Atlas was surprised to find that some of them had ideas for how to save it, but he knew that none of them worked or were simply impossible to try.

Atlas became close friends with the group's leader, a girl named Lily. She was smart, funny, and always had a positive outlook on life, despite the bleak reality they were living in. Or maybe she was simply to immersed in the games they played. She was barely a few years older than Atlas and the only other teenager he ever heard about. Her optimism was infectious, and he even got inspired him to keep looking for solutions to the world's problems, even when they seemed hopeless.

As time went on and puberty set in, Atlas realized that he had fallen in love with Lily. They had never met in person, but they had shared so much of their lives with each other that it felt like they had known each other forever. But deep down, Atlas knew that their love could never be fully realized. They could never have a family or grow old together as they weren't even living close to each other. The thought was heartbreaking, but Atlas didn't let it stop him from cherishing the time he had with Lily and the rest of his online friends.

A year later, the loneliness and heartache were overwhelming, but when he heard that Lily's mother had died in her sleep, he invited her over, despite the long journey she would need to take. Despite the age gap between them, he felt a strong connection to her and hoped that she felt the same.

A few weeks later, Liliy arrived, and they, with the help of Sophia and John, started to expand the self-sustaining farm. They tried to add more crops and livestock, and even built new structures. For the first time in years, Atlas felt a sense of purpose, a reason to keep pushing forward. The farm became a hub of activity, and with new life being brought into the farm, the dynamic slowly began to change as Atlas spent most of the day with Lily. As they worked, Atlas and Lily grew closer, sharing laughs and stories as they manually tended to the crops and animals. Their relationship blossomed into something more, and they found solace in each other's company. The world may have been dying, but for a moment, they felt pure bliss.

However, as time passed, the reality of their situation slowly crept back in. The farm could only sustain so much life even after the expansion, as the problem of the declining birth rate seemed to extend more and more to the animals and even the plants. Sophia and John were devastated to see their farm slowly failing despite their efforts. They had tried everything, from introducing new crops to using different fertilizers, but nothing seemed to work. The situation only got worse when they noticed that the livestock had stopped reproducing entirely. The farm was their source of life, and seeing it crumble before their eyes made them feel hopeless.

But that was not the only problem they faced. The news from around the world were equally grim. People were dying left and right, and no one knew why. There was no apparent reason for the sudden deaths, and it seemed to be affecting everyone. Sophia and John feared that they would be next, and Lily realized that her mother was probably one of the first victims of the undetectable “plague” that killed everyone. Atlas tried to stay positive, but it was getting harder with each passing day. He spent most of his time tending to the farm and playing games with Lily, trying to blend the problem out during the times he wasn't trying to look for a solution. But even the best games could not distract him from the reality of their situation. They were running out of time, and no one knew how to fix the problem.

One year later, his mother died. She simply didn’t wake up anymore. She wasn't ill or in pain; she simply died in her sleep.

John, Lily, and Atlas were devastated by the loss of Sophia, but they had to carry on. As terrible as it sounded, Sophia's death gave them a few more months, as their food had been running dry. But even with Sophia gone, the farm couldn't sustain them for much longer, and they were forced to ration their food. John's survivors' guilt weighed heavily on him, and Lily and Atlas struggled to cope with the bleakness of their situation. He wished back the days where boredom was his greatest concern, but even after investing all their time into desperate attempts to either find a cure for the "plague" or a way to revitalize the farm, the solution stayed out of their reach. It didn't even feel like they were getting closer, and it seemed that the world was beyond saving.

In the face of their bleak and hopeless circumstances, Atlas and Lily could only find comfort in each other's company. They spent many long hours talking and trying to laugh, finding joy in the small happy moments they shared together. They often spoke of leaving the farm and going on a journey to find other survivors, but they both knew it was a futile dream. There would be no Utopia waiting for them out there. The world was dying, and there was nothing they could do to stop it. Even the people online had gone completly silent.

As the months passed, John's health began to deteriorate rapidly. His body was worn down and malnourished, and the constant stress affected his mind too. Lily and Atlas did their best to help him, but his health and mind continued to deteriorate, no matter what they tried. John made his peace with the situation and just waited for his end; he believed that he would reunite with Sophia in the afterlife. Eventually, he passed away peacefully in his sleep. Lily and Atlas were once again devastated but also conflicted about it because they knew that John was finally at peace.

With no one left but each other, Lily and Atlas clung to the hope that somehow, someway, they would find a way to survive. They continued to work the farm and tend to the few plants left, but it was clear that they were living on borrowed time. Every day brought new challenges and obstacles, but they faced them with determination and resilience, trying to not give in to despair like John had. For all they knew, they could be the last two humans on Earth, but they were determined to make the most of the time they had left together.

A few days later, as Atlas lay in bed next to Lily, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. He hugged her tightly and gave her a long, lingering kiss, savoring every moment with her. Little did he know that it would be their last embrace. The weight of hopelessness robbed him of sleep, but eventually exhaustion overtook him, and he drifted off.