"Sir, this is the time to reveal the truth to the world," said William.
Brown remained silent, staring at the massive screens before him.
"It should be you, Brown," William continued. "You were the one who discovered it. Humanity deserves to hear it from the person who found the truth."
Brown took a deep breath.
"Okay, sir."
A few minutes later, every major broadcast system on Earth received the same signal.
GLOBAL SCIENTIFIC ANNOUNCEMENT — NASA
For the first time in human history, every screen showed the same thing.
Phones stopped displaying advertisements. Holographic billboards across cities went silent. News channels abandoned every story. From the crowded streets of Tokyo to the smallest villages thousands of kilometres away, billions of people looked toward one message.
At first, nobody was afraid.
Humanity was used to discoveries.
A new planet.
A distant galaxy.
A breakthrough in space exploration.
But this time was different.
There were no celebrations.
No smiling astronauts.
No images of a new world waiting to be explored.
Only a group of scientists standing in silence.
And at the centre of them...
Dr. Ethan Brown.
"Hello, everyone."
"My name is Professor Ethan Brown, an astrophysicist at NASA's Deep Space Dynamics Division."
"Since childhood, I believed in one thing..."
"Numbers have no ego."
"Numbers have no fear."
"Most importantly..."
"Numbers never lie."
"I spent my life studying these numbers. To many people, they were just calculations written on a screen. But to me, every number told a story. Every equation revealed a hidden truth about the universe."
"That belief brought me to NASA because, for me, space was the greatest book ever written..."
"A book filled with numbers."
Across the world, many people looked away.
"What is he even talking about?" a man whispered. "A complete waste of time."
Some continued walking.
Some returned to work.
Some switched off their screens.
Brown knew this would happen.
He looked directly into the camera.
"I'm sure many of you are wondering why I am taking your precious time."
"But this announcement is bigger than your work."
"Bigger than your plans."
"Bigger than today."
"Because this is not about one person."
"This is about our world."
The screens behind him changed.
The Milky Way appeared.
Then came the dark region ahead of humanity's path.
Brown's voice became quieter.
"For the first time in history, humanity is not preparing for a disaster created on Earth."
"We are preparing for something coming from beyond it."
The world slowly stopped listening casually.
People looked back toward their screens.
"The universe has changed the future we thought we understood."
A pause filled the broadcast.
Then Brown spoke the words that would be remembered forever.
"I hereby declare that humanity has entered a new chapter."
"The Age of Ice has begun."
The screen went black.
For several minutes...
The world became silent.
Not because of a war.
Not because of an attack.
Not because of anything humanity had created.
But because everyone understood one thing.
The future had changed.
Inside NASA, William looked toward Brown.
"Is everything over, Brown?"
Brown looked at the dark screen.
"No."
He turned around.
"Life on Earth survived the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction. Humanity survived volcanic winters, glacial periods, and disasters that once seemed impossible."
"Survival is written into the history of life itself."
"We will find a way."
William looked at him.
"How?"
Brown activated a projection of Earth.
One continent appeared.
Antarctica.
"Our last chance."
William stared at the map.
"But Brown..."
"What?"
"Can this really work?"
Brown stayed silent for a moment.
Then he answered.
"It has to."
He looked back at William.
"I need one favor from you."
"Anything."
"Connect every major space agency with NASA by the end of this week. ESA, ISRO, JAXA, CSA... everyone."
"We need every scientist, every engineer, every mind working together."
"We must prepare everything with perfect planning."
"Because according to our calculations..."
Brown looked at the frozen simulation of Earth.
"We may only have five to ten years before the first effects begin."
William nodded.
"Aye aye, Captain."
Brown walked away, already preparing for humanity's greatest challenge.
William watched him leave.
Ethan...
You may be remembered as the man who announced humanity's darkest age...
But I will remember you as the man who gave humanity a chance.