A groundbreaking discovery turns into a mission. As Mark, Jacob, and Rohit build Planetary Talent, they uncover an algorithm that doesn’t just predict the future—it already knows it.
Mark Janzen sat at his desk, staring at the machine that had upended his understanding of reality. The files, the messages, the blueprints—they all pointed to something bigger. Something that shouldn’t exist, yet undeniably did. And now, he needed help.
He picked up his communicator and dialed a name he hadn’t spoken to in many moons.
“Rohit, it’s Mark. I have something… strange that I need you to see.”
Rohit Ghule had a reputation as one of the sharpest software engineers in the industry. A mind that could see patterns where others saw chaos. He had worked with Mark years ago, and if there was anyone who could make sense of this, it was him.
A few days later, Rohit arrived in Planetary City. He took a long look at the retro computer sitting between himself, Mark and Jacob. After a moment of contemplation, he raised an eyebrow. “Where did you even find this thing?”
Mark waved a hand. “Long story. What matters is what’s inside.”
Rohit sat down and the computer hummed to life. He paused for a second, fingers poised over the keys, and then began running diagnostics. The system responded instantly, its interface flickering in a way that felt... premptive.
As he peeled back layers of code, it was as if he were excavating something ancient, something waiting to be found. Functions that shouldn’t exist whispered at the edges of the display, long-dormant processes quietly reactivating as if recognizing their new observer. Then, buried deep in the system, he found something that made him stop cold. He inhaled sharply, eyes widening. "Mark… you might want to see this."
“This isn’t just a hiring algorithm,” he murmured. “It’s predictive. No—more than that. It’s… aware.”
Mark and Jacob exchanged glances. They had suspected something like this, but hearing Rohit confirm it made it real.
“Explain,” Jacob said, leaning in.
Rohit tapped the screen. “This system isn’t just matching candidates to jobs based on current data. It’s forecasting—identifying talent before they even make a name for themselves. It’s charting their career trajectories years, even decades in advance.”
Mark frowned. “So, like, predicting the next big CEOs?”
Rohit shook his head. “Not just CEOs. Innovators. Scientists. Engineers. Artists. It’s mapping out the people who will define the future.”
Then, Rohit hesitated. He had found something else.
“Uh… Mark,” he said cautiously, his fingers hovering over a list buried deep in the algorithm’s metadata. “Look at this.”
Mark and Jacob leaned over his shoulder. The screen displayed a list of names.
At first, nothing stood out. Then they noticed the dates and locations next to each name.
2059 Earth. 2072 Mars. 2104 Kepler 22b. Some of these names belonged to people who hadn’t been born yet. The system wasn’t just predicting great future humans—it was pulling names from timelines that hadn’t even happened. It was as if the machine had glimpsed a future already written, waiting for reality to catch up.
A silence settled over the room. Jacob let out a slow breath. “What is this?”
Rohit scrolled down, examining the entries. “Some of these people don’t even exist in any records yet. But the system knows about them. And it’s tracking their potential.”
Mark ran a hand through his hair. “So what do we do with this?”
Jacob grinned. “We do what it’s telling us to do. We build it.”
And so, Planetary Talent was founded right that very day.
The early days were nothing short of chaos. Reverse engineering the algorithm was tricky. Convincing clients that an unheard-of talent matching system was the future wasn’t easy. Investors balked at their so-called ‘unproven’ technology.
But then the hires started.
One by one, businesses who took the leap began reporting the same thing—the system worked. It didn’t just find qualified candidates; it found the right ones, and it found them instantly.
Clients started rolling in. Then more. Then too many to keep up with.
Despite their success, the nagging questions remained.
Who was Maxwell Jules? How did he build this machine? And why was the computer waiting for Mark specifically?
The answers never came. The computer lay dormant at Planetary Talent HQ for months.
Then, just yesterday, while the team was deep in another late-night strategy session, the computer—Maxwell’s computer—suddenly flickered to life. Code scrolled faster than any of them could read, filling the interface with a cascade of characters, numbers, and symbols.
Then, just as suddenly as it started, the screen froze. One final message appeared.
“Good. You listened.”
Then the screen went dark.
Mark, Jacob, and Rohit all stared at the machine in silence.
Jacob exhaled. “Well. That’s ominous.”
Mark didn’t reply. He was still staring at the darkened screen, knowing—somehow—that this wasn’t the end.
It was only the beginning.
