Under the Sky of Mars

For Alexis Luthor, change always begins with data.

Alexis sat in her private office at LexCorp, the lights dimmed, watching four holographic screens that displayed real-time feeds from the Ares Colony on Mars. Beside her, her sister Lena wore an icy expression, her fingers typing rapidly on a crystal tablet. They were not merely heiresses to an empire; they were the architects of humanity's next era.

"The extraction team's vitals are unstable, Alexis," Lena said, her voice devoid of emotion, though her eyes gleamed with an almost obsessive scientific curiosity. "Dr. Aris reported the discovery of 'organic structures' in the caves of Valles Marineris. He called them quartz deposits, but spectral analysis shows something else."

Alexis leaned forward, narrowing his eyes. On the screen, the grainy footage—captured by a helmet-mounted camera—showed an astronaut touching a reddish, rocky surface. Suddenly, pinkish, nearly invisible filaments shot out from the rock like microscopic whips, piercing the man’s polymer glove and skin in the blink of an eye.

The astronaut didn't scream. He felt no pain. Instead, his look of terror was replaced by an absolute, terrifying serenity.

"A parasite," Alexis whispered, a slow smile spreading across her lips. "Not an ordinary parasite. It isn't killing the host—it's rewriting the nervous system to accept external commands."

"Or internal ones," Lena corrected, stepping closer to the screen. "Look at the pupil dilation. The parasite has lodged itself in the prefrontal cortex. It doesn't just want to consume the flesh; it wants the consciousness. If we can isolate the binding protein, Alexis... we could control not just soldiers, but leaders. We could implant anyone's will, without them even realizing they were no longer masters of themselves."

Alexis gazed out the window at the city of Metropolis. She grasped the magnitude of the power now in her hands—a thought that improved her mood.

"Send the containment team," Alexis ordered, her voice now laced with icy authority. "Don't bring the astronauts back as survivors. Bring them back as samples."

Lena nodded, already programming the transport protocol. She looked at her sister, recognizing the same ruthless ambition that defined their lineage.

"What will we do when the first 'host' arrives on Earth, Alexis?" she asked.

"We will create a new world, Lena," she replied, mirroring the image of a man destined to rule the world—and to rule over everyone.

Deep within Mars, a humanoid figure—resembling a green man—watched the team of astronauts with concern. He was the last survivor of his race, which had been decimated by parasites; without a host, one of these creatures would die within a week. Yet, one of them had survived and latched onto a human. Aware of the danger humanity would face should the parasite reproduce, he set out in pursuit of the humans, praying he wouldn't be too late.