Synthetic Hero

At the Southwestern Spaceport a towering bronze figure reaches eternally toward the stars, a monument to an ambition that never left Earth. The statue bears the name of George Carlin, a ruthless industrial magnate whose fortune was built on cold, profitable ventures and whose reputation is as shattered as the moon‑lice‑infested wreckage that marks humanity’s first failed launch site. When a fatal, bone‑eating disease begins to dissolve his skeleton, Carlin refuses ordinary death and plots a spectacular suicide—a one‑way trip to the moon that would immortalize his name in the very void he once exploited.

To make that impossible dream a reality, Carlin appoints Verne Harris, an obscure junior engineer whose brilliance is matched only by his lack of concern for profit. Harris sees the project as a chance to test radical ideas about propulsion and life‑support, while Carlin views it as a stage for his final, self‑glorifying gesture. As the clandestine ship takes shape, the two men clash over purpose, responsibility, and the true cost of a legacy built on both awe and exploitation.