Ellie walked through a dense native forest alongside her father on a sunny, fresh afternoon, with a pleasant wind caressing their faces while they listened to the sounds of birds and insects blending into a serene melody. Suddenly, she stopped to observe with interest a motionless spider lying in wait for an unfortunate mosquito traversing its trap, in a combination of calm and tension that only nature can offer. Unexpectedly, she was interrupted by her father.
— Don't you think we should do this more often? Sometimes I fear that your immersion in work doesn't let you enjoy life.
Ellie turned and looked at him without saying anything for a few moments, only smiling. She knew he was right, after all, she was the type of person who didn't have weekends on her calendar. Just as she was about to respond with her familiar speech, she felt a sudden jolt in her body that started from her shoulder and reached her head.
— Ellie, wake up, we'll be landing on Earth in a moment!
It was Charles speaking to her, a crew member of the "Nova Domus II" mission, the engineer in charge of establishing and supervising communication systems with human colonies. Beside him, with a worried expression, was Hoshi, the ecologist responsible for monitoring biological systems to re-establish Earth's habitability.
Ellie abruptly sat up, stammering apologies for being absorbed again. A tear ran down her cheek, which she awkwardly wiped with her suit glove. The numerous medications she took to manage her stress and anxiety were taking their toll. Despite ten years having passed since her father's death under strange circumstances in the original "Nova Domus" mission, and despite the countless recommendations from the committee not to join this new mission due to the stress it could cause her, nothing could quell her conviction to fulfill her father's dream: to return to the Earth that once sheltered humanity.
In the 25th century, from numerous self-sustaining space stations and terraformed moons, neither Ellie nor anyone from her time could truly experience a native forest. The climate crisis, pollution, and numerous wars over natural resources had brought the human species to the brink of extinction. A minimal fraction of the original population had to migrate hundreds of years ago to a new life, leaving behind everything that once defined them as humans.
In the new confederation of colonies, whose capital was located on Titan, a moon of Saturn situated over a million kilometers from the planet, the concepts of countries and cultures had lost practical meaning, becoming mere information in bulky history books. Curiously, books nowadays were digital compendiums associated with immersive virtual reality, allowing detailed revisiting of the last phase of human history before extinction, as well as access to realistic simulations of even earlier eras.
The Earth planet remained in its place, but now it was an unrecognizable, inhospitable, and hostile place. The accelerated climate change led to the Anthropocene, a period of massive extinction that dramatically reduced biodiversity. The poles melted and raised sea levels, which, due to its high acidity, only accelerated devastation. Immense concentrations of greenhouse gases, along with radioactive isotopes from the last great nuclear war, delivered a final blow to what was once the cradle and home of humanity. What remained of humanity made a final terrestrial effort to quickly collect genetic samples and specimens, both biological and synthetic, gathering seeds, embryos, and microorganisms, with the hope of being able to complete the terraformation of various space destinations that could give them more time and perhaps a second chance.
The "Nova Domus II" mission's objective was to investigate what had happened to its predecessor mission and monitor the terraformation progress at one of the five strategic points to establish the first colonies on earth. To achieve this, they would land in what was once called the Amazon, now a dead and dry desert. It was speculated that the fatal accident of the predecessor mission occurred south of what was once called the United States, since the last distress calls from that crew were received in that area. Nevertheless, the radiation levels now exceeded recommendations for direct landing for any crewed mission.
Upon landing in the designated location, Ellie, Charles, and Hoshi put on their helmets and performed a final check of their life support systems. Earth's conditions remained uncertain, and since they would undertake a long journey to the reconnaissance point, they needed to be certain they could complete this important mission.
As they descended from the spacecraft, Hoshi raised her left arm and executed instructions on a flexible touchscreen linked to her suit. Suddenly, a group of drones and four-legged automata descended from a compartment of the ship. These devices were destined to explore the area and reach the central shelter of this zone, taking data on temperature, pollution, and various other physical and chemical parameters along their way. After looking at her monitor for a few moments, Hoshi raised her gaze and said:
— Radiation levels remain relatively low in this area, unfortunately, neither temperature nor pollution have diminished too much. Shall we begin?
Hoshi was a calm and methodical person; her ancestors had lived in a country called Japan. Although this was nothing more than a concept for her, she dedicated long hours of her time to living simulations of that place, trying to rescue its culture and traditions. Charles, on the other hand, never paid much importance to his ancestors from the United Kingdom. He was pragmatic and unpredictable, qualities that balanced his mission colleagues well, especially Ellie, who since her father's death had immersed herself more in her work, currently being the director of the terrestrial recolonization program. With chilean ancestry, she always felt the need to work harder and demonstrate to others what she was capable of, as if in some way she could compensate for what these younger countries could not do to prevent the extinction initiated by the great powers of that time.
After entering instructions on her arm, all the robotic devices commanded by Hoshi sped away to the south, towards the central shelter. Meanwhile, Charles approached the ship and entered instructions on a panel located on its side, which opened a compartment with a semi-terrestrial vehicle capable of carrying three people, fully equipped with everything necessary to monitor and survive the journey that awaited them to the north.
After traveling several hundred kilometers, they began to notice something strange in the environment. The type of plant life that had been sown in this area had changed. They expected to see dense low-height vegetation designed using synthetic biology techniques, a complex symbiotic interaction between plants and microalgae with high metabolic capacity to absorb carbon dioxide and other pollutants. However, they found something similar to a boreal forest, with strange trees of reddish leaves and large size.
Ellie gestured to stop the vehicle and addressed Hoshi:
— What happened? Just a week ago, satellite images didn't show this.
Hoshi continued looking with fascination at what was before her eyes, almost as if she hadn't heard Ellie. While evolution could have followed its unpredictable path with synthetic organisms, it was strange to find something so inexplicable in such a short time. After taking tissue samples for a few moments for later analysis in the ship, Charles reminded them of the mission's focus; they must continue their journey, and they would have time to analyze what had occurred later.
They continued their journey, and the closer they got to the incident zone, the stranger the measurements of temperature, pollution, and radioactivity became. Moreover, the vegetation continued changing and increasing in distribution and complexity, deviating from what had been designed. Finally, upon reaching the planned location, Charles became extremely serious and sweaty, and with a trembling voice addressed Ellie and Hoshi:
— Radioactivity and pollution levels have dropped to practically zero, the temperature has also stabilized at around 20°C. Is, is, is that the 'Nova Domus' ship?
Ellie, in a heroic or maddened act, quickly executed commands to exit the vehicle so rapidly that she didn't even put on her helmet. She ran towards the ship, which appeared as if it had just landed. Charles and Hoshi tried to stop her, failing in their attempt. As she drew closer, with tears in her eyes and agitated breathing, she noticed strange symbols on the ship's fuselage, looking like a combination of somewhat familiar yet very strange and enigmatic drawings.
Upon reaching the ship, the hatch was open. As she entered, her skin bristled, her mouth dried to the point where her tongue stopped functioning for a moment, her heart rate accelerated to the point where an electrocardiogram would be unintelligible, her knees stopped working, as if something suddenly deactivated them, falling to the floor without resistance, her body completely blocked. Her field of vision began to darken in a tunnel-like form, consciousness slipping from her hands.
Only one question managed to escape her mouth with great difficulty and at a minimal volume.
— Dad?
