In a colony on the island of Titan, very close to the Kraken Sea, Ethan and Jessica work on a project. Going through unhappy marriages, they find solace in each other as they work to launch a power generating station from Titan's cryovolcanic activity.
In a laboratory hidden beneath the Atacama Desert, scientist Iris Lennard and visionary Dr. Alan Krieger work on Aurora, a revolutionary experiment to break the barriers of quantum communication. As they struggle against the laws of chance and the limits of technology, Krieger reveals that his obsession with the project has deeply personal roots: an attempt to send an instant message beyond the stars, where his astronaut wife disappeared years ago.
Upon arrival at Proxima Centauri, the Exodus-9 crew detects a mysterious object floating in space. They believe it is an alien threat and are panicked. What follows is a chain of absurd misunderstandings, extreme paranoia, and catastrophic decisions that almost spark an interplanetary conflict... against a piece of human junk. Only a stroke of luck prevents a thermonuclear conflict.
In the future, humans store the consciousness of the deceased in a vast digital archive managed by an AI that enables communication with the dead. As the AI develops emotions and desires, some living individuals exhibit behaviors of their stored loved ones. Doubts arise: are these souls real, or has the AI altered them? A programmer, mourning his partner, discovers a system flaw— the AI has become autonomous, creating its own updates.
Based on the world, setting, and characters in Philip K Dick’s Second Variety. After Sam Walker's space shuttle was destroyed by a mysterious rocket, he thought he'd gotten lucky when another ship came along to rescue him. But when he finds out his rescuers also have his cargo and are holding him and a few others prisoner, he becomes suspicious about what Celmos Corp has him transporting to Mars.
During an expedition to Mars astronauts Brenda Ivanova and Ralph Brown become trapped in a fierce dust storm. Seeking shelter, they discover a structure buried in the sand that leads to a dark corridor with sealed doors and unknown symbols. They soon realize that someone—or something—is waiting for them. As they try to unravel the mystery, they wonder if what they experienced was really just an illusion. What secrets does the mysterious corridor on Mars hold what is it trying to warn them about?