Echoes of the Stars: the Spark of Civilization

In the star calendar year 2145, the last starry sky on earth is extinguishing silently above human heads. Not because of war—the scars of World War III have scabbed over half a century of peace; nor because of resource depletion—controllable nuclear fusion and orbital solar arrays have made energy nearly unlimited. The disappearance of starlight is a slower and more complete farewell: an invisible barrier at the edge of the Milky Way is expanding, like a giant closed hand, cutting off the connection between humans and the universe one by one.