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It made more sense before you knew the facts. That is the general
impression of the current situation on Mars especially of those critical
of the Martian Express company and their ongoing problems with the
settlers, engineers, and workers. As with all conflicts, the timeline
is a burning fuse that is obvious only to those trying to distort the
truth, but it is something that is worth mentioning here.
From the 1970s through 2045, exploration, mapping, and ore
sampling on Mars was conducted by unmanned probes and AI robots.
Beginning in 2045, however, Hybots were developed. Hybots were wheeled,
tracked, and footed robots but with one particular difference: the brain
wasn’t a chip, it wasn’t organic – it was both. It was neurons cultured
from human cortex that formed a network that not only reacted to
external stimuli, but learned from it. Instead of complex AI robots
running massively complex software routines for every possible
condition, Hybots were given simple instruction sets and expected to
learn their way to a successful mission. Hybot brains were expected to
last about 24 to 36 months – long enough to complete whatever mission it
was assigned – but they survived much longer. Over 1000 Hybots had been
placed on Mars to perform various commercial exploration projects when
it was discovered that they soon became bored and began to venture off
the mission path. Attempts to shut them down failed and AI robots sent
to turn off the Hybots stopped sending signals to Earth soon
after they landed. In 2050, a temporary moratorium on Mars exploration
was instituted, hoping that in time the Hybots would cease to function.
But hold that thought….
Beginning in September, 2055, war on Earth between China and the U.S.
began and it dragged on for nearly 4 years. It is ironic that the
desire not to use nuclear weapons by either side actually led to
more death and destruction. Towards the end of the war, a worldwide
influenza outbreak, that brought with it drug resistant bacterial
pneumonia, killed over 800 million people. The
Earth’s economy was in shambles and the population of 9 billion at the
start of the war and before the flu pandemic was 2 billion when it was
finished; it would be another 40 years before spaceflight became
commonplace again.
By 2100, colonies were established on the Earth’s moon. These were
child-like escapades compared with the colonies on Mars today but they
provided a learning foundation. By 2125, over 1000 people were living
on the Moon, developing the techniques that would be used for the
exploration and colonization of Mars. Unmanned cargo ships were being
sent to Mars, carrying tools, power plants, food and other supplies,
ready to greet the anxious human arrivals. By 2135, about 200
scientists and engineers were on Mars in 2 colonies; by 2150, that
number was over 2,000, spread out in 12 colonies. Despite the apparent
success stories, dependency on Earth for needed supplies was still
great. Supplies of food, nitrogen, carbon, and water were all required
on a regular basis until magnesium sulfate mining began. Magnesium can
burn in a CO2 atmosphere and that is just what was just the right fuel
source needed on Mars. Now it was possible that large power plants
could be produced to generate electricity to run the colony buildings
and to charge to enriched sodium tetrahydroborate fuel
cells that ran everything from transport buggies, radios, and
pressure suits to the simple locomotives for hauling ore. A fuel cell,
no bigger than your fist, could produce 48 volts DC at 10 amps for over
200 hours. All that was needed now was the manpower.
To supplement the scientists and engineers, that is to say, to perform
much of the manual and dangerous tasks, laborers were required.
The question was how to recruit them. By 2155, Mars was being
administered by Ventures Beyond, shell company formed by seven
multinational firms on Earth. Ventures Beyond, or VB as it was called,
decided to attract laborers by assuming their debt in exchange for 10
years of service on Mars. In no time at all, millions of applicants
were eager to go. In addition, VB offered passage to Mars with all
expenses paid for anyone willing to renounce their citizenship and
settle there. In no time at all, millions of applicants, laborers and
wanna-be Martians, were eager to go.
By 2170, with the advent of the Mars shuttle service from the Earth’s
moon, over 19,000 settlers and laborers were now on Mars, whose
population included 6,000 scientists and engineers as well as 1,800
administrators and paramilitary police from VB.
Problems soon developed between the scientists and engineers, settlers,
and laborers. Derogatory slang terms for each group grew overnight: the
scientists and engineers were called spike or spike head,
a reference to the pressure suit helmet that was worn in the early days
of the Martian colonies that had a stub antenna on the top; a settler
was called Go Tom, an acronym from Going To
Mars, a sign which was above the entrance of the section
restricted for settlers on the Moon base; and an indentured laborer was
called either BIFFE (Big
Ignorant Fool From Earth) or ninety-two,
a reference to the VB police radio code for someone who has ventured
into the Martian atmosphere without pressure suit, a common occurrence
of newcomers due to the lack of extensive training. Anyone from VB was
just cursed at, although from behind and out of earshot.
Each group felt as if they were victimized by the other, or they didn’t
have the same privileges as another group, or that VB was taking
advantage of them. VB people felt that the various groups were
generally dishonest and undisciplined. The truth is, they were all
correct.
Were you still holding that thought about the Hybots? Terraforming
engines were placed near the poles beginning in 2175 and the problems
started soon after. All of the colonies up to this point were placed
several hundred miles away from poles and had rarely ventured there.
The terraforming engines were designed to melt the southern, CO2 ice
cap, thickening the CO2 atmosphere and also raise the temperature to
about 10° Celsius. The northern water ice cap would slowly melt,
releasing water, water vapor, and creating oceans. Lichens, fungi,
algae and a host of other plant life would be dispersed, also aiding in
creation of a simple atmosphere. That was the plan but the Hybots had a
different idea. The Hybots were sent to and very near the polar regions
and about 150 of the more than 1000 survived. They had learned to
consume needed parts and pieces from failed units and repair
themselves. They learned to scavenge from off-course unmanned cargo
ships as well as the unfortunate early manned ships. Their simple
instruction set included directives such as keep alert, preserve your
systems, and carry-out your mission. With the passage of time, the
organic brain of the Hybots developed different interpretations of the
directives.
At first the deaths of engineers and laborers at the terraforming
engines were viewed as industrial accidents but soon the deadly
interactions with the Hybots was apparent. Over five hundred transport
buggies were quickly assembled and armed to magnetic pulse cannons and
while there was early success that was soon overshadowed by a larger
problem: coronal mass ejection. As you know,
Mars has no internal magnetic poles that, beside for guiding some one
with a compass, provides a shield against most of the effects of a
coronal mass ejection from the sun. In 2177, such an
event took place and it killed about 350 of the unprotected VB police
who were manning the transport buggies. Well it didn’t exactly kill
them: they were dead but just didn’t know it. This now brings you up-to-date.
There are about 100
uncontrolled Hybots, 350 zombie VB police in armed
32-2MX
Buggies,
and the humans, all struggling for control. The Martian Express company
was created by VB to supply colonies, protect the terraforming
engines, continue the magnesium sulfate mining, and stay alive.
- David C. Gann, Senior Archivist / Cook |
