Proxy Planeteers

Earth crews operate remote mechanical Proxies to mine uranium in Mercury's searing fissures, but a series of inexplicable blackouts damages machines. Operators notice drifting clouds of heavy radioactive gas and propose that mercurial organisms of radioactive matter are interfering with the Proxies by overloading their electronics. To test the theory they retrofit machines with countermeasures and descend into deeper, hotter clefts, forcing a collision between human engineering and an unfamiliar, radiation-based form of life. The narrative explores the dangers of remote labor, speculative alternative biologies, and the practical strains of extracting vital resources from a hostile environment.