COVIDYSTOPIA- January 1, 2030 (Somewhere on City – 10, Medusae Fossae Quadrant, Mars)
Alon Tusk finished his lunch with a cold beer today. The robot butler silently cleared the table and changed the transparency settings for the X-Dome office. The red vista greeted Alon with its warm familiarity.
The Mars Cities project had taken off with great vigor after the Earth World recovered from the crisis of 2020. The allure of a cheap life on Mars World was irresistible to the able-bodied and the intelligentsia from the home planet. The first few cities broke new ground on a new planet, with Alon's company's controlling AI – Cicero being the benign dictator of Mars World. By the time City Nine was made, the city creation mechanisms were automated to a T.
Mars City Ten was a new experiment. The first city built by machines, designed by machines. Alon gazed silently at the Red Planet, sipping his Corona beer. He was pondering on what would be Cicero's next move.
(Disclaimer – this is fiction, exploring the what-ifs, post pandemic. Any resemblance to anyone living or dead is coincidental!)