Bee Speaker

The notion of a dramatic end for humanity was never realized. Instead of a massive natural calamity, devastating global conflict, or a sweeping pandemic, the downfall came through countless smaller crises such as relentless storms, increasing droughts, and persistent regional skirmishes marked by self-interest. Humanity’s demise was neither grand nor heroic; it was a slow decline brought on by numerous minor wounds. While Earth experienced disintegration, Mars found unity. On this red planet, genetically engineered humans and animals, with the assistance of Bees—an outlawed distributed intelligence—managed to survive through collaboration, as there was no other option. Now, a plea echoes from Mars: 'For the sake of what once was. We beg you. Help.' Unable to ignore this call, a Martian consortium musters the resources necessary to embark on a mission back to the ancestral blue-green planet. And so they venture across the vast expanse, three hundred million kilometers from their new home, only to find that things have already taken a turn for the worse.