The air in the Library of Echoes was dense with the scent of decaying books. For centuries, the repository had been untouched by human hands, sealed in glass domes that preserved the remnants of the world before the Collapse. Jera, a researcher from Sector 13, carefully pulled the ancient tome from its resting place, its leather-bound cover cracking under her gloves. The title, written in faded ink, read Compendium of Earthly Creatures.

Flipping the brittle pages, Jera stopped at an entry with a small, intricate illustration. The creature was unlike anything she’d ever seen—sleek, with pointed ears, sharp eyes, and a tail that curved elegantly behind it. The word beneath the drawing read: Cat.

“What is a… ‘cat’?” Jera whispered, her voice barely audible in the vast emptiness.

Her assistant drone buzzed to life, its voice monotone. “Error. Term ‘cat’ is not found in current databases. Searching archival cross-references…”

Jera leaned closer to the text. The description called it a “domestic animal,” revered by humans for its grace and companionship. It spoke of their purrs, their uncanny independence, and their mythical ability to sense unseen forces. But what struck her most was the implication that humans once coexisted with creatures other than themselves.

“Imagine,” Jera murmured, “a time when life wasn’t just… us.”

She traced the illustration with her gloved finger, a pang of longing for a world she had never known. Outside, the gray expanse of the city loomed, where not even a blade of grass survived the sterile environment humanity had built to endure. Jera had seen simulations of trees, birds, even insects in the archives, but nothing had prepared her for this—this cat, a fragment of a world brimming with life and warmth.

“Why did they disappear?” she wondered aloud.

The drone clicked. “The extinction of non-human lifeforms began in 2147 due to the Biocollapse Event. Contributing factors include climate destabilization, overexploitation, and genetic sterilization. Conclusion: all animals extinct by 2173.”

Jera’s eyes lingered on the image. How had humans let this happen? The thought made her chest tighten, as if she were mourning something she had never met but now felt deeply connected to.

She closed the book gently, a vow forming in her mind. Perhaps the past held the answers to the future. Perhaps, just perhaps, she could find a way to revive what was lost.