The lights in Wei Li’s office buzzed faintly overhead, a dull, droning sound that had become his constant companion. Five years ago, this room had felt like a command post, alive with purpose. Now it was a cage. A quiet cell built from failed simulations and bureaucratic silence.
His desk was a battlefield of data: temperature curves, atmospheric compositions, crumpled notes. A single blinking cursor stared back at him from a blank screen.
Five years.
Venus remained a furnace cloaked in poison. The project was collapsing under its own ambition, and under the cold expectations of Director Cao. Another month of failure, and it would all be shuttered.
He reached for the half-empty glass of baijiu, but the door swung open before he could drink.
“Wei, you need to see this,” Liu said breathlessly.
Wei turned. Her voice carried that tone, half panic, half thrill, the one he remembered from college when she’d stumbled onto a new protein fold at 3 a.m. Her cheeks were flushed, her hair windblown from running. Behind her stood Chen Mei, intense as ever, eyes bright with the glint of victory.
Wei blinked. “You two look like you’ve cracked the human genome.”
“Better,” Liu grinned. “We cracked Venus.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Define ‘cracked.’”
Chen wasted no time. “We’ve engineered a bacterium. Sulfur-reducing. It catalyzes a reaction using Venus’s own atmosphere. Converting sulfuric acid, CO2, and methane into piranha solution and solid carbon.”
Wei froze. “Piranha solution? Isn’t that a chemical solvent for destroying organic material?”
“Under Earth conditions, yes,” Liu said quickly. “But we’re not using it for its corrosive properties. Its density and reactivity are the key. On Venus, it sinks.”
Chen tapped his tablet, projecting a model. “The solution drops through the sulfuric acid cloud layer. When it hits the basalt surface, it reacts, producing water vapor, carbon dioxide, and calcium sulfate. That’s gypsum.”
Wei’s mind turned the gears. “You’re telling me we’ve found a way to scrub the atmosphere while producing water and binding sulfur into rock?”
Liu nodded. “Exactly. And it’s self-sustaining. As long as the bacteria survive and spread, the cycle continues.”
“And you’re confident it’ll survive Venus’s conditions?”
“We ran a thousand simulations. 87% showed measurable climate cooling within seven years.”, replied Chen
Liu looked at him, serious now. “It won’t make Venus habitable overnight. But it starts the clock. And it gives us a lever, something we’ve never had before.”
Wei stared at the models. The chemistry checked out. The logic was beautiful in its simplicity. But this was more than science now.
This was opportunity.
Wei stood, heart pounding. For the first time in months, maybe years, he felt the pulse of hope. “And the carbon?”
Chen’s eyes gleamed. “Graphite flakes, mostly. It settles. Provides surface layering. Harmless. But the real value is the transformation: cooling and chemical rebalancing.”
Wei paced, grabbing a marker and heading to the whiteboard. “Alright. If the fermentation phase works, then we move to phase two. Introduce algae, engineered strains that convert CO2 into O₂.”
Liu stepped beside him, finishing his thought. “High-altitude algae, suspended in protective gel matrices. We seed them after the atmosphere thins.”
“Which gives us a real shot at lowering greenhouse gases and building a breathable layer,” Wei said.
Chen crossed her arms. “Then what?”
Wei turned, eyes fierce with renewed energy. “Then we colonize.”
He began sketching out a topographic map: Venus’s massive highlands, mountain ridges, plateaus.
“We establish sites in elevated zones, above the worst of the atmosphere. We start with domed habitats, hydroponics, thermal shields. Small at first. Scientific outposts.”
Liu was already on the second board, outlining habitat modules. “We’ll have to manufacture locally- can’t rely on Earth shipments for everything.”
“We won’t,” Wei said. “This time, we think like settlers. Not explorers.”
A quiet settled over the room, thick with possibility.
Ever pragmatic, Chen spoke. “This is good science. But Director Cao won’t care unless you give him a political win.”
Wei nodded. “That’s why I’m not taking him chemical formulas. I’m taking him a vision. A phased plan. A future.”
The next morning, Director Cao’s Office
The room was pristine, sterile, like the man who occupied it. Xi Cao stood behind his desk, gazing out at the darkening horizon.
Wei stood opposite, posture rigid, palms clenched behind his back.
“You’re late,” Xi said without turning.
“I waited until I had something worth your time,” Wei answered.
Xi slowly turned. His face was sharp, unreadable, his presence commanding. “Go on.”
Wei tapped his pad. The projection sprang to life: three tiers of light, drifting in planetary orbit: Phase I, Phase II, Phase III.
“We’ve discovered a biological method to destabilize Venus’s atmospheric balance. A sulfur-reducing bacterium, engineered to ferment sulfuric acid, methane, and CO2. The process produces dense reactive liquids.”
Cao narrowed his eyes. “Define ‘reactive.’”
Wei hesitated only a moment. “It’s similar in composition to piranha solution. Exceptionally corrosive on Earth. But on Venus, that very property becomes an asset- it sinks through the atmospheric layers, carrying chemical change directly to the surface.”
Cao leaned back slightly, expression unreadable. “You’re proposing we flood Venus with acid to cool it.”
“Not acid, transformation,” Wei corrected gently. “The reaction with basalt produces water, binds sulfur into gypsum, and begins atmospheric thinning. It’s the first real step toward making Venus habitable.”
He advanced the display.
“Phase II: once the upper layers are stable, we introduce algae colonies. Carefully engineered to convert CO2 to oxygen. Enclosed at first, then open-air over time.”
“And Phase III?”
“Settlement,” Wei said. “Permanent. High-altitude colonies, starting with biospheres and then expanding. We’ll build on mountain plateaus to avoid lingering atmospheric toxicity. Agricultural modules, shielded greenhouses, autonomous construction drones.”
He stepped back. “It’s bold. But it’s viable.”
Xi was silent for a long moment. Then, slowly, he circled the projection.
“The Central Committee has been… losing faith in this initiative,” he said, voice low. “Billions invested. No progress to show. You know what’s at stake.”
“I do.”
Cao turned, eyes like polished ice. “Do you understand what it will cost if this fails?”
Wei didn’t flinch. “Everything. Which is why we won’t.”
Another long silence.
Then: “Draft the operational timeline. I want full protocol documentation by the end of the week. I will authorize initial deployment.”
Wei exhaled, steady. “Understood, Director.”
As he turned to leave, Xi’s voice followed him.
“If you’re wrong, Li… you’ll be the one to tell the CCP.”
Lunch that day
The break room was small, dimly lit, and smelled faintly of reheated rice and industrial-grade coffee. Liu Xin sat cross-legged on the counter, poking at a container of cold noodles. Chen Mei stood near the window, chewing methodically through a protein bar, his focus split between his meal and a data pad displaying bacterial growth curves. Jie Zhang sat at the small table, casually flipping through a manual on robotic systems, his easygoing demeanor a stark contrast to the tension in the air.
None of them noticed Wei enter, until he spoke.
“He said yes.”
Liu looked up, mouth half-open, chopsticks paused mid-air. “What?”
Wei set his tablet on the table and leaned against the wall, arms folded. A quiet smile tugged at the edge of his lips. “We’re going to Venus.”
There was a beat of silence, just the soft hum of a ceiling fan and the muted crackle of Chen’s protein wrapper.
Then Liu let out a sharp breath. “You’re serious?”
Wei nodded. “Cao’s authorized Phase One. Full deployment planning begins immediately.”
Jie set his manual aside, his usual grin spreading across his face. “Wait, wait… Are you telling me we’re actually going to Venus?”
Wei’s smile deepened. “Operational timeline by the end of the week. Protocol documentation. He wants everything, but… he said yes.”
Chen blinked, as if pulling himself out of a trance. “He actually approved it?”
Wei gave a quiet nod. “We’re cleared to begin.”
Liu slid off the counter, eyes wide. “Holy shit.”
Jie chuckled, standing up and giving a quick, exaggerated stretch. “Well, that’s one way to start the day. I thought we’d be wrestling with bacteria for a few more years. Guess I better get the drones ready for a much bigger job than just some soil samples.”
Liu laughed, breathless. “I was just wondering if the noodles were expired. And now we’re terraforming Venus.”
“Welcome to the club,” Jie said with a wink, grabbing his cup of coffee. “I guess it’s time to make some really big robots, huh?”
Wei couldn’t help but laugh, the easy camaraderie lifting his spirits further. “We’ll need your bots more than ever, Jie. High-altitude habitats, autonomous construction, terrain stabilization. You’re going to be busy.”
Jie nodded enthusiastically. “Busy? Please, I’m in my element. I’ve been waiting for an excuse to build something that can actually change the world. Venus will be nothing compared to what we’re going to throw at it.”
Chen set his protein bar down carefully, staring at it as though it suddenly mattered very little. “Then we’d better stop eating and get back to work.”
Wei pushed away from the wall, the weight of uncertainty finally lifting from his shoulders. For the first time in years, the impossible felt within reach.
“Let’s make a planet,” he said.
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