The Genesis Error

In 2988, my parents and I returned from our interstellar voyage to find Earth completely desolate. Believing humanity had gone extinct, my parents immediately started having more children to save the species. Fifty years later, surrounded by a thriving tribe of our descendants, my parents passed away. My grandson arranged their funeral. But as I stared at the names he had carved into their tombstones—names I had never taught him—my blood ran cold. In that moment, I realized we had it all wrong.