Runaway global warming has decimated the world's agricultural output, and worldwide hunger has prompted mass migration. Attempts at climate modification have only inflamed regional conflicts. The United Nations and the G10 governments respond by funding a study into the feasibility of expanding human life elsewhere in our galaxy. The UN awards the project to QFT Global Industries; they name the project PRIME8. By 2144, eight spaceships approach the eight nearest habitable exoplanets; the craft carry no human crew, just androids. The human crews never leave earth; for twenty-four months, they...

Runaway global warming has decimated the world's agricultural output, and worldwide hunger has prompted mass migration. Attempts at climate modification have only inflamed regional conflicts. The United Nations and the G10 governments respond by funding a study into the feasibility of expanding human life elsewhere in our galaxy. The UN awards the project to QFT Global Industries; they name the project PRIME8. By 2144, eight spaceships approach the eight nearest habitable exoplanets; the craft carry no human crew, just androids. The human crews never leave earth; for twenty-four months, they...