Synopsis:
In the near future, the Ares mission becomes mankind’s first attempt to send a human crew to Mars. The spacecraft, equipped with cutting-edge technology and a team of six elite astronauts, takes off amidst worldwide excitement and hope to colonize the red planet. During the first few days on Mars, the crew establishes a base and begins to explore, discovering strange formations in subway caves and an unknown organic material that appears to “grow” on the rocks.
As they investigate, disturbing incidents occur: lost communications, strange visions of the same astronauts in different parts of the base, and unexplained physical symptoms. One crew member disappears during a nighttime exploration and returns only to behave strangely, as if he were an “incomplete” version of himself. Tension mounts when another astronaut discovers duplicates of themselves in the caves, inert beings, but looking like “emergent” versions of each other.
The atmosphere becomes paranoid chaos as they begin to wonder if any of them are still human or if they are all just replicas created by Mars. One by one, the crew members disappear, until only the commander, Eli, who manages to send one last desperate transmission before boarding the ship back to Earth.
Weeks later, the rescue capsule lands on the planet. Of the six astronauts, Eli is the only survivor. However, something about him is… different. His behavior and memories seem fragmented, and NASA detects a genetic variation in his DNA. No one knows what really happened to him on Mars, but scientists fear that what returned is not Eli, but a near-perfect replica, perhaps humanity’s first contact with an alien life form that has learned to mimic its creators. What really happened on Mars? And, above all, is Eli who he claims to be?
Thus begins the mystery of the Ares mission and the enigma of what Mars hides in its depths.
Comment