The city of Nadir 2039 was nothing like the typical metropolis of yesteryear. Autonomous vehicles glided along the streets and drones circled above the rooftops, keeping an eye on order. However, underneath the modern surface were things the young residents had never even dreamed of. Lena, a 13-year-old physics enthusiast, had been asking questions constantly for as long as she could remember. This spring, together with her friends Tom, a computer science specialist, and Sara, a robotics enthusiast, they decided to explore an old tunnel that, according to urban legends, led underground. On a Saturday evening, armed with torches and electromagnetic scanners, they descended a creaking metal staircase into a dark corridor. Layers of dust and old wires clung to the walls, and a regular buzzing could be heard in the distance. At the end of the corridor, they came across a steel door with a touchscreen display. - 'Try your tricks, Tom,' whispered Lena. Tom took out a hand-built code-breaking device and after a few minutes the panel flashed green. The door slid open silently, revealing a huge hall full of equipment neither of them had seen before. In the centre, under a dome of dimmed light, stood a glass capsule. - This must be some old laboratory... 'But everything looks like someone was here a while ago,' muttered Sara, picking up a drop of still-warm water from the floor. Suddenly the capsule began to pulsate with a faint light. Unintelligible sequences of numbers appeared on the monitor to the right, and a quiet, synthetic voice came from the speaker: - Andromeda protocol activated. System readiness: 94%. Lena felt a shiver run down her spine - something moved slowly in the capsule, casting a shadow on the frosted glass. The three friends held their breath as the capsule slammed open....