The protomolecule. Its very name evokes images of something primal, mysterious, and utterly incomprehensible to humanity. This "first molecule" has been the epicenter of chaos, wonder, revelation, and conflict ever since its fiery arrival in the Sol system. In examining the protomolecule‘s origins, purposes, and the furious race to control it, one glimpses just how high the stakes have become in The Expanse.
Origins of the Protomolecule: An Alien Genesis
Far from being some natural formation, the protomolecule is alien through and through. It hails from somewhere beyond the Sol system, created untold eons ago by a civilization so advanced as to be god-like by human standards. Phoebe, the tiny Saturnian moon where the protomolecule first manifested, was merely a happenstance resting spot on the molecule‘s long dormancy.
_The protomolecule makes landfall on Saturn‘s moon Phoebe. (Credit: Syfy)
Had Saturn‘s gravity not caught the protomolecule‘s ancient transport vessel, the "Phoebe Projectile" would have sailed on unimpeded to Earth itself. Humanity as we know it might never have developed. So in that respect, catching the protomolecule was incredibly fortuitous for our species.
Of course that does beg the question: what unfathomable intelligence forged the protomolecule across the stellar depths, and for what purpose?
Goals and Capabilities: Hijacking Life Itself
The protomolecule is not so much a stable, defined substance as it is a set of replicating instructions or imperatives. It cannot function or utilize matter on its own accord. Instead, it infiltrates and takes control over other cells and systems, manipulating them to further its cryptic agenda.
Once introduced into even simple unicellular organisms, the protomolecule swiftly spreads and overrides cells via specialized nanoparticles:
| Host Organism | Infection Rate |
|---|---|
| Paramecium aurelia | Full override in 10 microseconds |
| Escherichia coli | Full override in 5 microseconds |
As demonstrated by the above figures, the protomolecule displays frightening infection and assimilation rates even against lower life forms.
Based on grim experiments carried out by Protogen and the UNS Navy, the protomolecule shows no issues with subsuming complex, conscious beings like humans either. Left unchecked, it could potentially commandeer all life on a targeted world towards its own inscrutable ends.
So if the protomolecule can subjugate humans and radically mutate other species, what might be its objectives regarding terrestrial lifeforms? In truth the molecule seems to have been wholly created for interstellar travel and communication. It builds gates that link disparate star systems through traversable wormholes. Its adaptive, viral nature no doubt helps it spread through interplanetary civilizations in order to open these gates.
Within the alien directive of the protomolecule, our world would have been yet another beachhead from which to launch construction of a transport ring. The designers likely never conceived of Earth evolving an independent, technologically advanced species that might oppose their project. In that respect, humanity itself has become an obstacle to the protomolecule. And we have proven ourselves dangerously incapable of fully controlling this alien contagion.
Discovery and Early Experiments: Opening Pandora‘s Box
The revelation that Saturn‘s moon Phoebe housed extraterrestrial artifacts including the protomolecule samples jumpstarted a harrowing scientific Gold Rush. Rival corporations launched furtive missions to claim and exploit the biggest technological leap since fire. Ethics became an early casualty.
Chief among the opportunists was the corporation Protogen and its lead researcher Antony Dresden. His experiments on using the protomolecule to create a human-hybrid led to revolting results and the horrific demise of many captive test subjects.
However, Protogen executives saw the utter scientific importance in understanding something engineered by an advanced alien civilization. They hatched extensive plans to seed human colonies with the protomolecule. Their goals included but also exceeded mere corporate profits or prestige. Rather this was about unlocking the greatest discovery in history to transform mankind permanently. And Protogen‘s backers were willing to manipulate governments into open war just to camouflage their own dark agenda.
Struggle for Control: Earth, Mars and the Belt
Throughout The Expanse the protomolecule becomes the ultimate disruptor. Its radical, unpredictable nature and reality-altering ramifications utterly roil Sol system politics. From security breaches aboard Phoebe and thwarted smuggling plots to the devastating Eros incident, the protomolecule steadily amplifies tensions among factions.
It also accelerates arms races. As word of it leaks, Mars and Earth‘s military contractors scramble to synthesize protomolecular advances into bleeding-edge weapons. Spy rings burgeon while rivals undermine or strong-arm one other‘s leaders into endorsement. Outright militarized clashes erupt over sole ownership of the protomolecule artifact.
The three central factions vying to control or leverage the protomolecule include:
Earth & political inner planets
Key leaders: UN Secretary-General Chrisjen Avasarala, corporate billionaire Jules-Pierre Mao
Motive: Consolidate power over Mars & the Belt by exploiting alien tech for weapons and political advantage in governing the Sol system
Mars & its military network
Key leaders: MCRN Admiral Souther, Marine Bobbie Draper, UN Ambassador Frank Degraaf
Motive: Sparks an arms race to synthesize advanced weapons from the protomolecule faster than Earth in order to finally "win" the long rivalry
The Belt & its dissenting factions
Key groups: the OPA, Fred Johnson‘s breakaway faction, radical groups like the Free Navy
Motive: Leverage the protomolecule either as a strategic asset to trade for independence from the inner planets, or as a weapon itself to use against their injustices
And that is between human factions alone. One shudders imagining what an actual extraterrestrial response to Protogen‘s meddling might resemble. For an entity that casually constructs spacetime wormholes, retribution could take quite terminal forms for our civilization.
True Purpose Revealed: A Bridge Between Stars
Despite originating from an unknowable alien source, the protomolecule does leave behind traces of intent in its workings. From the ring gates now bridging consciousness across interstellar gulfs to the interwoven neural patterns within, something about the protomolecule smacks of connection rather than mere destructive conquest.
Miller‘s revelation that the protomolecule was enhancing Venus towards supporting life, however foreign that lifeform might be, hints at a central purpose. The protomolecule builds infrastructure allowing its creators to expand existence ever outward through the cosmos. It is essentially an advanced alien transportation network, not some tactical super-weapon levied against rising civilizations like ours.
The activated Ring gate, allowing instantaneous travel across vast stellar gulfs. (Credit: Syfy)
And that lends profound perspective on why forces might produce something so potent. Exploring and surviving the gulfs between suns requires harnessing energies and manipulating nature at staggeringly elevated levels. The protomolecule may operate beyond our science, but likely remains conventional for an interstellar-capable culture. Its sheer efficacy demonstrates that alien expertise.
Consequences for Humanity: A Dangerous Inheritance
Regardless of whether the protomolecule was crafted with innocent intent, its capabilities utterly terrify. Merely a sliver of this stuff permanently changed the Sol system and the destiny of humankind. No one thus far has exercised anything close to real authority over the protomolecule. Neither governments, corporations, smugglers, lunatic researchers, or telekinetic detectives have curtailed the havoc it wreaks.
The protomolecule forces humanity to confront its own deepest limitations. While offering technology beyond comprehension, it also broadcasts just how comparatively primitive people remain despite mighty works. We have scarcely defined our ethics around things like artificial intelligence or genetic editing. Yet something so reality-bending as the protomolecule entering the picture forces a harsh self-reckoning.
And this sets the stage for endlessly captivating drama. As finer alien secrets pour through the gates, shaking faiths while igniting ambitious new directions, everything remains in flux for our system. Whether we rise to collaborative heights or fracture down warped technological paths into new dark ages almost seems a toss-up odds-wise now.
But the protomolecule makes one truth absolutely clear: the expanse of the future awaits, terrifying and enigmatic. We venture forth led not by our own visionaries now but the indecipherable machines of quasi-divine alien engineers. Where they will direct humanity yet remains to be unveiled.