Mars

 
Welcome to Solaris, traveller! This is a slower-than-light science fantasy set in our own solar system.
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Mars is a planet of great contrast, from the colourful padi fields to the monochrome cities that stretch up towards the skies. Its two oft-forgotten moons, Phobos and Deimos, are easy to miss among the sea of glittering space stations and massive arcologies occupying low Martian orbit. Previously the rural backwater of the Sol System, its inhabitants believe they have forged today's technologically advanced Mars through the power of rationalism and meritocracy.  

It starts in the Fields

  In the early age of spacefaring Mars was seen as the rural backwaters of the Inner World. Mars was a pastoral wonder with the shelves of bright cyan padi fields carved into the red-rock hillside. Today it exists mostly in old imagery, and any old-school farms are supported by tourism rather than the sales of their product. The real agriculture of Mars comes from vast fields of monocrops. Automation handles every step of the growth, from sowing, harvesting and packaging. The agricultural revolution not only freed up the workforce of Mars, but was the first step towards Mars' future technological leaps.
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Padi Fields of Mars by Annie Stein

To the Skies and Beyond

  Today Mars is synonymous with it's hypermodern cities. Architectural triumphs dot the red deserts. In their shadows are vast stretches of suburbia, red clay houses and cheap prefabs.   For the hyperrich who don't even want to look out over the plebian masses they built their wealth off, Arcologies become the perfect escape. These satellite cities orbit the small red planet, leashed by the tethers of their Gateway Portals.
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"Nature" walk in a Martian Arcology by Annie Stein

Wetware and Dryware

  The Martian decision to recognize synthetic sentience, extending the full rights of legal personhood to robots and AI who passed the turing tests, was controversial at the time. At the time there was outcry about how it was little more than political maneuvering, an attempt to destablize nations and planets reliant on cheap robotic labour, or a ploy to subvert labour laws restricting certain jobs to people. Fear mongering continues, pitting wetware and dryware against eachother. As more and more of the robotic population are granted full rights, the flesh and blood humanoids of Mars are now beginning to find themselves outnumbered. Many welcome their synthetic fellow men, but some are less than pleased.

Related Articles

Planets Mercury · Venus · Tellus · Mars · Jupiter · Saturn · Uranus · Neptune
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Notice: This article is a stub. It may be expanded later!

Comments

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Dec 14, 2022 21:43 by Amanda McRoberts

On the crops, did you mean to mention Mercury? "The real agriculture of Mercury"   Love that there are tests to determine if an AI is sentient or not

Dec 14, 2022 21:48 by Annie Stein

Whoops! Yeah, no, that was definitely meant to be Mars, thanks for letting me know! And yes, I imagine their tests are a bit different to our own. Access is still a big issue with them though, a lot of robots and AI who might pass are never given the opportunity to get tested.

Creator of Solaris -— Come Explore!
Dec 15, 2022 03:20 by Aster Blackwell

Mars seems like a very guilded place. Gorgeous on the surface, but... something is lurking beneath.

Dec 15, 2022 09:29 by Annie Stein

Thank you! I'd say that's a fairly astute observation, yes.

Creator of Solaris -— Come Explore!
Dec 20, 2022 21:39 by Mochi

Lovely article! The artwork is amazing as usual! It's sad to hear that most of the padi fields are gone, and that they are only used for tourism now D:

I hope you have a great day!   Explore the endless planets brimming with life of the Yonderverse! Go after creatures, discover new places, and learn about the people you find along the way.   Come prep for WorldEmber with me!
Dec 20, 2022 21:50 by Annie Stein

Thank you! Yeah, they can make it a lot more efficiently with modern tech. At least a few fields do remain, and someone is keeping the traditional methods alive.

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Jan 1, 2023 16:17 by Han

We stan the robot rights planet


welcome to my signature! check out istralar!
Jan 1, 2023 17:34 by Annie Stein

We should give robots rights here too! and stickers!

Creator of Solaris -— Come Explore!
Aug 10, 2024 17:49 by CoolG

I really like the bit about the Turing tests and the fear of sentient robots and AI.

Explore the dark and mysterious Inferncenem, the bright and wonderful Caelumen or the magical and fantastical Ysteria   Have a good one!   Feel free to check out my Substack: CoolG's Awesome Worlds!   Join the Discord and chat with like-minded people!
Aug 12, 2024 15:20 by Annie Stein

Thank you! I really want to expand a bit on that, there's a lot of fun things we could explore on Mars!

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