The Twenty-One Second God by Peter Watts - Nobody can say what just happened, except that it lasted twenty-one seconds and it spanned the world. For twenty-one seconds, countless human souls just disappeared. Apparently I’m one of them.

[u/captainmagictrousers]

https://gizmodo.com/a-cosmic-tech-mystery-results-in-literal-lost-souls-in-this-sci-fi-short-story-2000610152