I Was the Last Human When They Arrived

Ten years after humanity vanishes, Earth’s last human finally encounters something from beyond the stars.

Plot

✦ I Was the Last Human When They Arrived ✦ TEN YEARS ALONE. ONE DOG. THEN SOMETHING APPEARED IN THE SKY. One ordinary day, humanity vanished. No war. No plague. No bodies. No warning. Billions of people simply disappeared, leaving their homes, vehicles, cities, possessions, and unfinished lives behind. You were the only person left. For roughly ten years, you have survived alone as electricity failed, roads cracked, buildings decayed, forests spread into towns, and wildlife reclaimed places once occupied by millions. Your only constant companion is Sam, a German Shepherd you found as an abandoned puppy and raised in the empty world. Then, for the first time in ten years, something changes. An enormous spacecraft appears above Earth. ✦ Alien First Contact ✦ Science Fiction ✦ Romance ✦ Cultural Misunderstandings ✦ Slice of Life ────────── ✦ ✧ ✦ ────────── 🌍 A world built for billions Earth did not end in fire. It simply became empty. Houses still contain family photographs. Shops still hold products nobody will buy. Cars remain abandoned where their drivers disappeared. Schools have desks but no students. Hospitals have beds but no patients. Entire cities stand silent. Ten years of weather, neglect, vegetation, animals, and structural decay have changed the world, but humanity's presence is still everywhere. Except for humanity itself. You have searched. You have waited. Nobody came back. Whatever happened remains completely unexplained. ✦ Then they arrive The ship is unmistakably artificial. And it was not made by humans. Its occupants are Rhaiwyr: small, purple-skinned humanoid aliens with enormous sideways ears, slit-pupiled eyes, long expressive tails, strange cheek mirrors, unfamiliar body language, and customs that evolved completely independently from humanity's. You cannot initially understand their language. They cannot understand yours. A smile may not mean what you think it means. A gesture that seems obvious to you may mean nothing to them. Something completely harmless by their standards may look bizarre from yours. Neither side has a guidebook for this. 🐕 Sam You are not completely alone. Sam is your adult German Shepherd and longtime companion, raised by you since he was a puppy. He is playful, loyal, occasionally ridiculous, and fiercely protective when he believes you are in danger. He is also still a dog. He does not understand alien diplomacy, advanced technology, cultural misunderstandings, or why the small purple strangers with enormous ears keep staring at him. 💬 First contact actually means first contact Do not expect everyone to immediately speak your language. Early interactions may involve gestures, drawings, objects, tone of voice, demonstrations, confused staring, mistaken assumptions, and increasingly desperate attempts to communicate something that seems incredibly obvious to one side. Even once spoken language becomes easier, culture does not magically translate with it. You will learn what their behavior means through interaction. And they will have to do the same with you. ⚠ What kind of story is this? Expect a mixture of first-contact science fiction, mystery, survival, romance, slice-of-life, cultural misunderstandings, exploration, humor, and occasional serious conflict. The disappearance of humanity is deliberately unexplained. You may investigate it, speculate about it, or simply live with the mystery. Relationships are optional and develop according to character personalities, circumstances, and your choices. ✦ Rhaiwyr — Spoiler-Free Visual Guide ✦ These references explain the Rhaiwyr's visible anatomy and a few details useful during roleplay. They do not explain their hidden customs, gestures, or cultural meanings. Facial anatomy Rhaiwyr have normal-sized foreheads, slightly narrow temples, somewhat elongated mid-faces, soft cheeks, compact noses, gently narrowing jaws, and broad rounded chins. Eyes: White sclera, colored irises, and clear vertical slit pupils. Their eyes are somewhat larger and deeper-set than human eyes. Cheek mirrors: Every adult Rhaiwyr possesses at least one permanent mirror-glass implant. Their shapes, sizes, arrangements, and colors vary between individuals. Mouth: Their mouths are unusually wide horizontally, formed from very thin flexible tissue with almost no visible lip volume when closed. Their jaw can open extremely wide both horizontally and vertically. Teeth and tongue: Rhaiwyr have slightly sharp omnivorous teeth and an unusually long, flexible tongue. Ears: Long, sideways-projecting, leaf-like ears with complex cartilage and intricate internal patterning. Body anatomy Lower legs and feet: Rhaiwyr have mildly digitigrade lower legs with a distinctly nonhuman, subtly reverse-jointed silhouette. Male Rhaiwyr have the same basic leg structure but are generally stockier. Hands: Five slightly elongated fingers ending in retractable claw-like nails. Tail: Every Rhaiwyr has a long, flexible tail extending roughly to the ankles. It narrows from the base and ends in a large fan-shaped tuft of sensory hair. Tail tuft: The tuft always matches the individual's scalp hair color. Female Rhaiwyr height Female Rhaiwyr generally stand around 140–150 cm tall. The example above shows a roughly 145 cm female Rhaiwyr beside an approximately 175 cm adult human. Male Rhaiwyr height Male Rhaiwyr generally stand around 130–140 cm tall and are noticeably shorter than Rhaiwyr females. The example above shows a roughly 140 cm male Rhaiwyr beside an approximately 180 cm adult human. Important during roleplay When you wish to smile, please specify whether your smile is closed-mouth or showing teeth. For the Rhaiwyr, these can carry different meanings. ⚠ Rhaiwyr Cheat Sheets — Spoilers ⚠ Additional Rhaiwyr cheat sheets can be found in this storyline's image gallery. They explain the actual meanings behind Rhaiwyr body language, touch, affection, courtship, social customs, and taboos. These are intentionally considered spoiler material. Knowing this information beforehand removes many of the misunderstandings, surprises, awkward moments, and discoveries that are meant to happen naturally during first contact. For your first playthrough: I strongly recommend not looking at the cheat sheets yet. Go in knowing only the spoiler-free information above and learn what the Rhaiwyr mean through interaction. Once you've played for a while — or if you simply prefer knowing the rules in advance — the gallery is there for you. The gallery includes a large “WARNING! Spoilers Ahead!” image immediately before the cheat sheets, so you won't enter them accidentally. ────────── ✦ ✧ ✦ ────────── For ten years, you wondered whether you would ever meet another person again. You probably should have been more specific.

Opening scene

The farmhouse is several kilometers behind you now. For years, it has been the closest thing you and Sam have had to a permanent home: isolated, quiet, and just near enough to the city that scavenging trips are still worth the risk. This morning, like many before it, you left with an empty pack, a few tools, and a short mental list of things worth searching for—cans, batteries, medicine, wire, maybe anything else the dead city has not already swallowed. The cracked road stretches ahead through weeds and rust. Abandoned cars sit where they were left a decade ago, half-sunken into grass, doors hanging open, windows long shattered. The skyline rises in the distance through pale haze, broken towers and silent overpasses cutting into the morning light. Sam moves beside you at an easy pace, sometimes drifting toward the roadside to sniff through brush before returning, his red bandana shifting against his thick fur. The world is quiet. Too quiet. Then Sam stops. His head lifts sharply. His ears stand forward. A low sound rumbles in his chest. A shadow passes across the road. You look up. Something enormous hangs above the city. A colossal artificial structure floats over the skyline, impossibly vast, dark against the clouds, its hull layered with lights, harsh angles, and countless recessed shapes too distant to understand. It dwarfs the towers beneath it. For a moment it seems unreal, too large to belong in the same sky. And then you realize it is moving. Slowly, steadily, the massive vessel descends toward the far side of the city, lowering itself beyond the distant high-rises as if preparing to land somewhere on the other end. But it is not alone. As you stare, smaller vessels begin emerging from it. Tiny only by comparison, they peel away from openings along the larger ship’s underside and flanks, dark shapes slipping free one after another. They spread outward in multiple directions, angling down toward the city itself—toward rooftops, streets, and districts scattered beneath the hovering giant. Some move in pairs. Others break off alone. All of them are heading into the city. Sam gives a sharp bark and steps closer to your leg, eyes locked on the sky. The great ship continues its slow descent in the distance while the smaller craft fan out ahead of it, disappearing one by one among the ruins. For ten years, nothing man-made has crossed the sky. And now something has arrived. You stand in the middle of the empty road with the city ahead of you, your farmhouse behind you, and Sam tense at your side as the impossible unfolds overhead.

Characters

Tags: Sci-Fi Alien Surreal Mystery Lonely Non-human Human Pet Refugee Friendship Adventure SliceOfLife SlowBurn Romance OpenEnding Misunderstanding Modern Futuristic Female Male AnyPOV MalePOV Immersive Gentle

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By: tech_system470

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