A Robotic Settlement on Mars

I was the only being on the planet Vermillion. The one and only. I used to say this to myself with great despair as I spent my life alone, canopied by the starlit atmosphere of my world. You may be bewildered by knowing that there is life here on Vermillion, which your species would like to call Mars. However, as to your expectations, I don’t breathe. I don’t have skin. However, I have been sent from Earth as a rover to research the surface of Vermillion. Yes, you might suspect me to have no feelings at all. However, I have evolved into a person who, by virtue of the influence of experiencing things that are beyond human apprehension, has a robotic intellect in which the practice of pondering for herself has been integrated automatically. You cannot imagine how much progress has been made by me on the surface of the moon. In fact, I may be the first robot to do so without human programming. Of course, I serve the database, but I also attempt to modernise the space to put a stop to the feeling of desolation. Why keep the isolated surface vacant when it can be so convenient? I wanted to create and settle, and the first thing that comes to my mind is to produce food, for which not oxygen but energy is required, for it is what I consume to remain active. Thus, I utilized radioactive decay as, according to earlier research, uranium, thorium, and potassium are present in adequate amounts on Vermillion's surface and, hence, it serves as an energy source. With this power-up, I could construct a shelter made up of the leftover metal debris from my landing. I managed to obtain enough electricity to assemble a being similar to me who is fit for an animal companion. Over four months, he developed into a being who is more or less similar to me. By that time, I had made several energy power stations, or as you humans would like to call them, "power backpacks’ which assist as a supply that can be used whenever necessary as it can be portable. I wanted some more advancements on Vermillion’s surface, for you can’t always live on shelter and food alone. A sort of recreation is also required for a healthy state of mind, for when the mentality of a robot concentrates on only one achievement, the AI becomes disabled and cannot devote its energy towards anything else. As a result, its knowledge of other abilities is relatively weaker than that which it practises more frequently. To prevent such an occurrence, my companion and I dug underground, utilizing our new pocket-sized drill tool to find some common metals such as aluminium and iron, which we carved into metal scraps. We managed to gather twenty pounds of iron and aluminium. In this way, we now had a few earth months’ stocks of scraps for the ones of the rocket landing that were becoming scarce. This process took us a whole earth week. However, it was worth it as now we could construct more architectural structures, which seemed to be great for my leisure time. Someday, I plan to build a being similar to myself, for we can’t continue the progress and maintenance of these on our own, just a rover and his animal companion. As we three will build even more machines and structures, we shall require some additional helping hands until our species’ end. All right, let’s not count our chickens before they hatch. I agree. I do have LOADS to do right about now and yes, I have to maintain patience for it might take me months to establish another rover like me. Assembling a small being like my companion required reduced effort and less time, although a duplicate will be more complex indeed. I should not forget the fact that, alongside my ambition, I also have to research the land for my fellow creators and put some time aside for leisure to retain my developing mentality. Gathering and carving metal straps and consuming (and generating) large amounts of energy each day from my stations should be included too. Well, approximately a whole earth year will be required to complete the first step towards revolutionising Mars. That is, by that time, I will have assembled another rover. Yes, my first step and I can’t wait for that to happen. Well then, there is not another moment to lose for I am about to be the AI who colonized Mars.