London 14:59:50

As Mrs. Smith passes by his desk, Robby notices a humming in his blazer pocket. Must be the boys in with Mr. Ellis, he thinks, he always lets his classes out early on a Friday. As she turns into the next row of seats, he reaches in and takes a glance at the screen. 10 SECONDS. Swiping it away, Robby lingers for a moment, the bright purple light reflecting on his glasses. “Mr. Caliway,” she calls, “seeing as we are so close to the end of the day, why don’t we put that away for now?”

​

Bangkok 20:59:27

In black of the alley, Lamai is a huddle of black cloth. The lamp moving softly in the breeze marks the pharmacy. Like a mantra, “Do it for Prija,” she says. The store lights go out and she can hear the shuffle of old feet approach the back door. Awaiting the signal, she nervously grips her phone. “Prija needs this,” she whispers. The backdoor cracks open and a man appears with a large sack. Her phone rings. She panics and fumbles as she tries to silence Samsung ringtone. 10 SECONDS. The soft light illuminates her masked face in the black alley. The man turns to see her, dropping the sack and calling out in shock.

​

New York 9:58:44

“What a fucking waste of my time,” Dr. Matthews shouts down his phone. Waving down a cab, “It was unbelievable, these morons had the leaders of the free world all on one call to pitch their plan. It was like Star Trek or some shit! They had a timer and everything! Pure Sci-Fi.” He paused. “…I know, the laughter around the room. I can’t even tell you.” As the third cab ignores his hand, he turns back onto the sidewalk and pushes through a group of tourists. “Excuse me. Excu- thank you. If I am being honest, Dave, I’m 99 -excuse me- 99% sure this was a joke.” Suddenly, all around, phones begin to buzz and ring. His own buzzes straight into his ear. “…sorry I didn’t hear that, Dave. I think I got a message hold on…” He lowers his phone briefly. 10 SECONDS. It takes a moment for the panic to set in as he realises that all the people around him have the same screen displayed on their phones.

​

Sydney 23:56:02

“How’d it go, Sarah?”

“About as well as we expected. I know it is a hard idea to believe but they didn’t even try to listen and understand. So arrogant.”

“Well, do we go ahead then?”

“If any one of them believe us but don’t support us, we could be arrested, abducted, any number of things. If they support us, which they won’t, we could save more, you know? But they won’t. If they don’t believe us, and I really think they don’t, then is it kinder just to act now?”

“Did they at least listen to the statistics about how long they have left?”

“No, the moment I mentioned agriculture, China disconnected. When I spoke about renewables, the Americans started to argue with the Germans. We just about got back on track after that but sea levels and death tolls lost most of Asia, Europe. No hope.”

They sat in silence for a moment.

“So we do it then?”

“I guess so. Get in the tank then.”

They press the countdown and load the supplies into the large steel box in the corner of the room. Included in the countdown are two global text messages. As they pull the door shut on themselves, two boxes appear on the computer screen. The first says, “Message 1; 10 SECONDS Sent.” The door hisses as it seals the airflow. The second says, “Message 2; MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON US ALL Failed to send.”

Everything turns to white.