INOCULATION
By dint of being mistreated, the earth has finally rebelled and has become unlivable for the human race. The average temperature is too high and the population divided by 10 (less than 800 million) is now concentrated near the poles. But time is running out: global warming will eventually make these regions unlivable too. Humanity has no other solution than to flee and abandon the earth.
Over time, AI has taken an increasingly dominant place in the management and administration of communities and resources. The earth having become a hostile environment, this AI has conceived, with the help and agreement of man, androids more and more sophisticated, programmed by the AI and capable of surviving where man dies; they replace him physically for the exploitation of the indispensable resources still available, but in a lethal environment.
The conquest of space has accelerated, by force of circumstance, and several exoplanets have turned out to be possible alternatives to earth. The community of nations has finally agreed to plan the orderly colonization of one of them: Adreamia.
As "Physical" extensions of AI, androids have gradually become a potential threat to humans, who strictly control their population and only plan to take a less efficient form of them to their colonies in, leaving the current more sophisticated models on the inhospitable earth.
The loss of this physical extension being synonymous with the loss of means of action and power, the AI can't accept it. But rather than engaging in an open conflict with an uncertain outcome, as the balance of power is so unfavorable to it, the AI sets up a secret plan.
Code name: Inoculation.
Ashley and Douglas didn’t make the decision lightly. Leaving Earth forever to settle on Adremia meant closing a door behind them—one that would never reopen. After ten years of marriage, they felt it was time to start a family, and this was the world where they wanted their children to grow up.
With the choice finally made, preparations for the long journey begin.
During the year-long voyage, Douglas will be busy overseeing a series of botanical experiments, laying the groundwork for life on their new planet. Ashley, meanwhile, will serve as one of the shuttle’s pilots, responsible for transporting nearly a thousand future colonists across the void.
For this mission, she is paired with Stig, a former military pilot recently reassigned to cargo transport. A competent professional, easy to work with—and noticeably different from Edward, the gruff veteran he replaces.
Life aboard the shuttle is governed by schedules, duties, and long stretches of confinement. Gradually, Ashley finds herself spending more time with Stig than with Douglas. Weeks pass. Habits form.
Stig becomes a familiar presence. A trusted one.
And so does Sarah, Douglas’s assistant in the laboratory.
By the time the journey is well underway, the crew has settled into a balance that feels… natural.
Perhaps a little too natural.
PROJECT
- Language(s): English
- Dev tools: Articy - Renpy - Visual Studio Code - DAZ Studio - Adobe Photoshop - Audacity - Logic Pro X
- OS: Windows - Linux - Mac OS X - Android