Twenty years after the events of Project Hail Mary, humanity has achieved something that had once seemed impossible: using the very thing that had almost killed us twenty years ago, Astrophages. With Taumoeba keeping its population under control, we have learned to live with Astrophage as it has become the fundamental front for modern energy development. Humanity has expanded beyond our solar system, establishing distant Astrophage harvesting operations and using Astrophage-powered vessels to travel among stars. What has begun as a Hail Mary to save Earth has become one of the greatest industrial growths in human history. And humanity is no longer alone. Years of cooperation with Erid have transformed first contact into a lasting relationship between two civilizations. Eridian technology and knowledge are exchanged with humanity, while Rocky himself now serves as an Eridian diplomat on Earth.

For the first time, humanity has a partner outside of Earth, and perhaps, finally, a reason to believe that the impossible can be solved together. But progress has a way of creating problems of its own. Humanity has built an increasingly interconnected civilization around a resource once feared, while its relationship with Erid has been growing more complex with every passing year. As humanity explores farther into the galaxy, the system holding this new era may not be as secure as it seemed. Delegates will step into the shoes of humanity’s leaders, scientists, and diplomats as they navigate a future neither Earth nor Erid could have predicted. Cooperation will be essential, difficult decisions will have consequences, and somewhere along the way, you may find yourself holding the question, “How could this possibly get any worse?”