What's With Mars?

Signal Lost takes place on Mars. Except, while still loosely based on its theorized history, it is a little different! It’s well believed that Mars once had oceans, and with oceans, more than likely life. One of the most popular theories as to how it might’ve lost those oceans suggests that the planet's core rapidly cooled to dormancy about four billion years ago, completely destroying its magnetic field, and thus its atmosphere in turn. The total lack of an atmosphere left the planet vulnerable to the radiation of the sun, and the freezing temperatures of space, ultimately drying away all water left on it, and if there was ever any life, killing it all too.

Now that being said, Signal Lost doesn’t take place four billion years ago! It actually takes place somewhere around 2050. This timeline of Mars’ core fading is quite dramatically adjusted. Within Signal Lost, the core is in the process of dying, however has not yet reached a critical point that threatens all life on it; thus, all of its oceans and lifeforms sustain. The disruption of the atmosphere and the magnetic field is still felt, with numerous regions being impacted by anomalous weather phenomenon, but complete decay of the planet is not yet certain, and likely wouldn’t be for many centuries to come.

This adjustment completely altered the trajectory of human history within Signal Lost. Prospects of something greater above drove mankind towards innovation, and technology in turn advanced much more rapidly than it has in our world.