Aiko is an engineer aboard one of the most ambitious space missions ever sent out from Earth. The goal is to reach Mars and set up the first ever research station and colony ... eventually leading to the permanent human settling of the planet. The small crew faces a myriad of challenges and setbacks but eventually reaches the surface of Mars. However, it seems that something ... or someone ... is already there waiting for them. Aiko and the others must race to find a way to figure out how to communicate with this mysterious new intelligence which is like nothing they have ever experienced before. As strange things begin to occur on the surface of Mars, they realize that they might just have had their reach exceed their grasp.