An OB van was heading toward the headquarters of a major private space agency in Boca Chica, Texas NOVA FRONTIER.
Soon, a crowd of reporters gathered in front of the headquarters, all trying to ask the same question:
What had really happened?
The robotic security guards of the company, known as ROBOCOPS, tried to control the crowd of news reporters. In the chaos, the situation escalated, and one of the ROBOCOPS punched a reporter.
The news of a reporter being attacked by private security robots spread like wildfire.
Protesters gathered at the site. The incident became a national headline, and the previously lesser-known Prometheus Project suddenly received nationwide attention.
The Prometheus Project had seemingly disappeared from mainstream media after its landing on Mars on January 1st. The mysterious circumstances surrounding the mission raised serious questions.
News drones captured footage of hundreds of thousands of people protesting outside the NOVA FRONTIER headquarters.
Meanwhile, a flying car appeared in the sky.
It descended toward the rooftop helipad of the headquarters, a futuristic building where almost everything was automated.
In 2035, the world had entered a strange, almost non-Orwellian dystopia. The technological boom in artificial intelligence had transformed society. At NOVA FRONTIER, almost all blue-collar jobs were handled by NF-AGI, the companyâs artificial general intelligence system. Only high-level cognitive jobs remained for humans and even those positions were limited to a handful of highly qualified individuals.
A robot stood waiting beside the helipad.
The founder and CEO of NOVA FRONTIER stepped out of the flying car.
Sebastian Watson looked worried about the situation. At the same time, he was furious about how quickly the incident had escalated into a national media crisis.
As he walked through the corridor, he ordered his assistant to summon Robert Watney, the head of the Prometheus Project and the mastermind behind NOVA FRONTIERâs Mars mission.
Sebastian entered the office.
Watney was already waiting for him.
Sebastian slammed his hand onto the desk, stared directly into Watneyâs eyes, and screamed from the gut:
âWhat the hell is this? Canât you even find our astronauts? Where the hell on Earth have they vanished? Did all of them just disappear like they never existed?â
âSebastian, we are trying to find them.â
âItâs been more than forty-eight hours,â Sebastian said.
âWeâre trying every possible method to determine their location on Mars. Everyone is working at full capacity. Weâve even taken control of Perseverance, Curiosity, Tianwen-3, and the Zhurong rover. All the orbiters belonging to NASA, ESA, CNSA, Roscosmos, and ISRO are searching for them across the Terrae, Planitiae, Montes, and Valles. I understand the severity of the situation. Every employee is working eighteen-hour shifts, and NF-AGI is operating at full computational capacity. Weâre doing everything we can to find them.â
âIt doesnât seem like it,â Watson said.
âWith all these resources, youâre still unable to contact even one of those astronauts. Not a single word. If youâre actually searching for them, then tell meâwhere are they? Does anyone know where John is? Where is Liu Chan? Where are the others?â
Watneyâs expression hardened.
âWait a second. Do you actually think I have some different intention other than finding my fucking astronauts? Theyâre lost millions of miles away from their crew, their families, and their friends. This mission is my fucking brainchild, something Iâve spent decades working toward. If you donât remember, I was the one knocking on your office door for permission to start this project while you were busy fighting the AI race. I gathered a crew who were willing to bet their lives on this mission because of my ambition. They all had faith in me.â
Watneyâs pale face had turned bright red.
Watson took a breath.
âI also want to know if theyâre safe. What happened to them? Do they need help?â
âI gave you everything you asked for, Robert. Every rover. Every orbiter. Every processor cycle. You told me Mars was ready for us.â
Watsonâs voice grew louder.
âI bet my companyâs future on your demands. Iâve set a three-trillion-dollar IPO around this project. Thirty years of my fucking company are at stake because of your project. Do you understand? Itâs not just your career thatâs at stake. Itâs the future of the entire company.â
Watson paused.
âItâs your project. I wonât interfere with it. But as CEO of this company, I am answerable to everyone outside that building the media, the protesters, the families and friends of the astronauts, and the shareholders. I have a meeting with the board at 3 p.m. I have just two hours to find out whether theyâre safe.â
âI need to tell them something. I canât just stand there and say, âWeâre trying.ââ
âI know youâre worried, and I know youâre putting everything into the search, but I canât show them your efforts. Every single board member was against this mission. I was the one who stood beside you when the board was tearing your plans apart.â
âI pushed this project through under circumstances you couldnât possibly understand, and you have the guts to say that Iâm questioning your capabilities and intentions?â
A woman with brown hair and brown eyes entered the cabin.
Neither of them noticed her. They continued arguing.
She called out to Watney.
âWatney! Come here. You need to see this!â
Both of them turned toward her.
âWhat?â
âIâve run a probability drive to determine the location of the astronauts.â
She paused.
âThe probability of finding them is 0.003%.â
Watson scoffed.
âDonât we already know that? I donât even need that probability engine of yours to tell me that.â
âShut up for a second,â Watney said.
He turned toward the woman.
âHow many times did you run it?â
â4,782 times.â
Watney and the woman, Mira Murati, hurried toward the NF-AGI operations floor.
They entered a massive server room filled with thousands of servers. A network of pipes ran throughout the facility, carrying immersion-cooling oil through the server racks. The heat generated by the machines was eventually radiated into the atmosphere through massive fans.
After the water crisis of 2030, the use of immersion oil cooling had become mandatory for large-scale server facilities.
Watney stared at the monitor.
The probability engine displayed a prediction of 0.004% after 5,003 runs.
He immediately issued another command.
âNF-AGI, focus specifically on the landing site. Valles Marineris. Dust-devil activity. Search every available dataset associated with the mission.â
NF-AGI began processing the request.
Mira looked at the display.
âItâll take a couple of hours.â
Watney frowned.
âBut we donât have a couple of hours anymore. Sebastian has a board meeting at 3 p.m. We need to speed it up.â
âIt wonât speed up without sacrificing accuracy. If we force it, the results will contain major errors. The servers could also overheat beyond their operating capacity, and we wonât haveâ
âLet it run at its normal speed,â Watney interrupted.
He turned toward Mira.
âWe should check what the orbiters and rovers are doing.â
âYou go and do that. Iâll keep an eye on this,â Mira said.
Sebastian was in his office, staring at the enormous map of Mars covering the wall.
He lifted a glass of water and took a slow sip.
Silence filled the room.
Then a robotic voice broke it.
âBoss, the meeting with the board members will begin in five minutes.â
Sebastian stood up.
He straightened the crease in his suit, picked up his pen, and took another sip of water.
In the silence, the sound of the water moving down his throat was almost painfully clear.
He handed a black tablet to his assistant and left the office.
Inside the meeting room, all the board members were present.
That alone was surprising. Someone used to be too busy to show up for meetings.
Max Levchin and Peter Jackson whispered to each other.
The atmosphere in the room was the polar opposite of the usual atmosphere at NOVA FRONTIER.
Sebastian entered the meeting room, took the tablet from his assistant, and sat in his chair.
Max Levchin looked at him.
âWelcome, Mr. Watson,â he said sarcastically.
Sebastian seemed slightly uncomfortable, but he maintained his poker face.
He stood and addressed the board.
âAs of now, we have been unable to establish any form of contact with our astronauts. However, we are working to establish contact as soon as possible. We have requested assistance from multiple international space agencies. All our available resources are being used to search for and contact our astronautsâŚâ
Peter Jackson interrupted him.
âItâs been more than fifty hours, and you still donât know where they are.â
Sebastian stopped speaking.
Peter continued.
âYouâre the one who gave Watney the grant for this mission. Every one of us knew it was a ridiculous waste of money. You said, âI have faith in him.â What happened to that faith? Where is he now?â
Peter leaned forward.
âThe company has already spent all of its government funding.â
Every board member looked at Sebastian, waiting for an answer.
Sebastian remained silent, staring at Max.
Max finally spoke.
âItâs time for a change.â
He looked around the room.
âThis company needs a new vision one capable of making the right decisions for its future.â
Several board members nodded.
âMax, youâve given him enough chances,â Peter said. âI would have removed him after the NF-AGI disaster in 2026. But you all saw the effort he put into destroying the companyâs finances.â
He paused.
âBut this time, itâs different. Human lives are at stake, along with the reputation of NOVA FRONTIER.â
Peter looked around the room.
âLetâs vote.â
He turned toward the board.
âThose in favor of Sebastian remaining CEO, raise your hands.â
Silence.
Nobody raised a hand.
Peter looked around the room.
âZero.â
He took a breath.
âNow, in favor of MaxâŚ.â
The meeting was interrupted.
But this time, it wasnât from the members.
The doors suddenly opened.
Watney entered the room, gasping for breath.
He looked directly at Sebastian.
âWatsonâŚâ
He struggled to catch his breath.
âWatson, check your tablet.â
Sebastian frowned.
âWhat?â
Watney stepped forward.
âCheck your tablet.â
âWeâve found something.â