Boy Born on Mars Returns on Earth for the First Time After 18 Years in Space.
A boy, born and raised on Mars, steps foot on Earth for the very first time after spending 18 years in space. As he experiences Earth’s wonders and challenges, he embarks on an extraordinary journey to uncover where he truly belongs.
‘SPOILER ALERT’
At a press briefing, a billionaire founder named Nathaniel announces that his company, Genesis, is ready to send astronauts to Mars to live there. He mentions that while he’ll get credit for the mission, the real heroes are the six astronauts who are headed to Mars to become the planet’s first citizens. As he unveils the astronauts to the public, he announces that they’ll be led by an astronaut named Sarah.
After everyone applauds them, someone in the audience asks how Sarah feels to be part of the mission, and she says she’s humbled and excited to have been given the opportunity to be part of the mission. Another press member in the audience asks if she’s scared, and even though she confesses that it’s risky, Sarah says she’s feeling courageous. Nathaniel likes how she answered the questions, and after the event ends, the astronauts head to the spaceship to begin their journey to Mars.
Two months after they leave Earth, the astronauts have still not reached Mars, and Sarah feels really sick and starts vomiting inside the ship. Her colleagues find this weird, and after one of them asks if he can talk to her, it is discovered that she’s pregnant. As the news gets to Earth, Nathaniel looks shocked and disappointed because he knows it could affect their mission.
One of the company’s directors, Tom, says they need to do something about it before the news gets out. He also mentions that even though Sarah did something irresponsible, they’ll have to get over it and let NASA decide what to do with the baby. Nathaniel asks what he means, and Tom says they need to start thinking of when to bring the baby back.
Nathaniel says there’s a bigger issue to worry about because it’s weird that the fetus will have to be subjected to zero gravity throughout its gestation period. Tom doesn’t say anything, but Nathaniel mentions that they need to keep the news out of the media until they’ve gotten sufficient information on what’s happening. He says that they’ll keep it private and let one of the astronauts, Gary, deliver the baby when it’s time.
Following this, Sarah keeps her baby, and just as they arrive on Mars, she gets prepared for the delivery. After a while, Gary successfully delivers the baby, and as Sarah looks at her child, she suddenly starts feeling strange. Unfortunately, Gary is unable to do anything to help her, and she passes away while Nathaniel watches what’s happening from a live feed on Mars.
Days later, Nathaniel joins a board meeting to decide what to do about the mission. He then explains that the baby’s internal organs and heart wouldn’t work well in Earth’s gravity. Tom suggests spinning the situation to the media as an experiment, but Nathaniel says it doesn’t make sense since real human beings are involved.
Nathaniel then suggests taking responsibility for what happened instead of trying to make up excuses. He adds that he’d like to be sent to Mars as part of the strategy, but Tom says it won’t happen because Nathaniel has a brain disorder that could put him at risk if he tries to travel to Mars. Nathaniel says he’s willing to take the risk, but Tom mentions that the suggestion is off the table.
A lady in the meeting then asks if the child will remain classified, and Nathaniel says it’s the best option because bringing the child back to Earth could put him in danger. Sixteen years later, Sarah’s son, Gardner, is already older, and he calls a robot named Centaur into his room to ask if he has a map showing how to get through the ventilation system in the facility. Centaur asks what he wants the information for, but he tells the robot to mind his business.
Since the robot still doesn’t want to show him the map, Gardner removes his head and hacks into it to get what he wants. Before he can have access to it, he’s asked to type in a mission code, so Gardner watches Nathaniel’s announcement video from years ago to see if he can find anything. As Gardner sees his mom, he admires her and sees the code he needs on her suit. After he types it in, he gains access to all the files and starts looking for the one he needs. Suddenly, he gets a text from an astronaut named Kendra, who has been raising him since he was young.
As Kendra asks where he is, Gardner immediately runs out of his room and heads to the greenhouse to start watering the plants. Kendra meets him there and says he’s late. She also asks what he has done to Centaur because he hasn’t been responding to her. Gardner asks if she’s spying on him with Centaur, but she denies this. She then tells him to continue working well because they’re trying to make him indispensable. Gardner looks sad as he hears this, and he asks how he can be indispensable if no one knows he exists.
Kendra doesn’t respond to this, but as she leaves the greenhouse, Gardner returns to his room and finds the best way to go through the ventilation system to reach the storage unit. As he sneaks into the storage unit, Gardner finds his mom’s locker and removes her things. When he returns to the room, he checks the box and sees a wooden ring inside.
After putting it on, Gardner sees a flash drive inside the box, and as he connects it to his computer, he sees a video of Sarah playing on a beach with a strange man. Gardner assumes that the man is his father, and after he prints a photo of his parents, he gets a text from a girl named Tulsa, who happens to be his best friend. Interestingly, Tulsa is from Earth, and Gardner has been talking to her using an internet chatroom, which he has access to from Mars.
As they start chatting, Tulsa complains about being in school with basic people who aren’t always real. She adds that when she’s eighteen, she’s definitely leaving her town in Colorado and looking for another place to stay. Gardner says he wishes he could come with her, but she doesn’t think he’s serious because he has been saying the same thing for a long time, yet they’ve never seen each other.
Gardner then mentions that he can’t leave his penthouse on Park Avenue because he has a disease called Osteogenesis Imperfecta. Tulsa says she still doesn’t believe him, but Gardner doesn’t say anything about this. He then asks how her foster dad will feel about her leaving, and she says he’ll definitely be unhappy because he’ll stop getting checks from the state.
As the school bell rings, Tulsa says she has to go, and that she’ll text him later. After their chat ends, Gardner watches a movie in his room, and Kendra meets him there. She then asks where he got the movie, and he says that one of the German scientists who came to Mars a while ago left it for him. Kendra asks how he can understand what they’re saying, and he tells her that he understands German. Elsewhere, Tulsa walks near a piano at school and stops to play it.
She doesn’t really play it well, and as some boys make fun of her, she takes her bike and leaves the school. When she gets home, she wakes her foster dad up and reminds him that he needs to work on one of his client’s farms. Even though the man doesn’t look interested in doing it, Tulsa gets him to enter his small plane and use it to spray water on the crops.
Elsewhere, Gardner leaves his room and jumps up to place his chest on a security system to disarm it. After the door unlocks, Gardner heads out and enters a space car. He then drives it to his mother’s tombstone, and after looking at it for a while, he angrily starts driving the car in circles. Unfortunately, one of the tires gets punctured, and it causes an accident that cuts a part of Gardner’s suit. As he struggles to breathe, Kendra shows up out of nowhere and saves him.
When they return to the facility, Kendra scolds Gardner for going outside alone and nearly killing himself. She also asks how he managed to get past the electronic lock, and he taps a side of his chest. Kendra then says he’s not supposed to use the magnetic implant in his chest as a passkey.
As she asks how he learned how to do that, even though the implant is to monitor the growth of his organs, Gardner says he was raised by scientists in a bubble. After he walks away, Kendra enters his room and tells him that his mom was not buried on Mars. She adds that the tombstone is just a metal in the ground because her ashes were actually spread across the Pacific Ocean.
She says he deserves to know, and that Sarah is living inside him. The next day, Tom arrives at Nathaniel’s house unannounced, and as Nathaniel asks what’s happening, he says it’s about the boy. Shortly after, Tom sets up a video call with Kendra, and she tells Nathaniel about how Gardner is a really smart boy who should be brought to Earth.
Nathaniel thinks it’s too risky, but Tom says they have to do it. He adds that they’ll finally have the chance to tell a good story to the media, but Kendra says they shouldn’t be thinking about that. Nathaniel still doesn’t believe in bringing Gardner to Earth, and he asks Tom if he has already talked to NASA about it.
Tom says that NASA never liked how they handled the case, and they’ve always wanted to do the right thing. Tom also mentions that Nathaniel has been gone from the company for 16 years, and he shouldn’t really have to decide for them. Nathaniel still refuses to sign off on the transport, and he says that they have to take his decision as final because he’s still the owner of Genesis.
Shortly after, Kendra meets Gardner and tells him that she has some good news for him. A few minutes later, Gardner texts Tulsa and tells her that he’ll be seeing her soon because they’ve found a cure for his disease. He says it will involve an operation and a lot of physical therapy, but that he’s sure he’ll be able to leave his house.
Tulsa looks happy about this, and she tells him to come quickly before she’s moved to another foster home. Gardner says it might take a while before he arrives because his journey will involve a lot of travel. Tulsa doesn’t seem to mind, and she says she’ll be expecting him.
A few days later, Gardner joins Kendra and some other astronauts for a trip to Earth. During the trip, Gardner asks Kendra why she’s divorced, and she mentions that her husband left her when he found out that she couldn’t have kids. Gardner asks if she was sad that she couldn’t have children, but she says it wasn’t something she was chasing at the time.
Gardner then tells her that he’d like to meet his dad on Earth even if the man wouldn’t know he’s talking to his son. As he asks if Kendra knows him, she says no one knows about Gardner’s dad. Elsewhere, Nathaniel checks the footage from the space facility on Mars and notices that Gardner is nowhere to be found.
As he checks the list of astronauts traveling back to Earth, he sees Gardner’s name there and realizes that Tom still went on with the mission without his permission. He then heads to the office and scolds Tom for doing exactly what he told him not to do. He adds that he wants to see Gardner when he arrives, but Tom says it’s impossible.
As he hears this, Nathaniel sounds angry and refuses to accept that he won’t see Gardner. A while later, Gardner and the rest of the crew finally arrive on Earth, and he’s helped out of the space shuttle. He’s also given a big pair of glasses to protect his eyes, and as he looks around, he sees a large body of water and looks amazed.
He also says he’s feeling really heavy, and the astronauts tell him that it’s because of the Earth’s gravity. Shortly after, several tests are carried out on Gardner, and he’s then quarantined in a room in Genesis’ laboratory. There, Nathaniel comes to see him, and he mentions that Gardner has been placed under quarantine to protect him from the people on Earth, and not the other way around.
Gardner says he’s already used to it, and that he sees it as being on a different planet but staying in the same bubble. Gardner then looks outside and admires the kids moving around. He says he wants to be like them, but Nathaniel says he’s the one everyone wants to be like. He adds that he has so many questions about Mars, and Gardner says he has some about Earth too.
Gardner then asks about his best thing on Earth, and he says it’s the rain. Nathaniel also asks about Gardner’s best thing on Mars, and he says it’s to pretend that he’s on Earth. After this, Gardner asks if Nathaniel saw his mom die, and he looks sad as he says he did. Gardner also asks why he likes the rain, but before he responds, Kendra enters the room, and Nathaniel greets her. Shortly after, one of NASA’s doctors mentions that Gardner’s blood work is normal, and there’s nothing wrong with him.
Nathaniel doesn’t believe this, and he tells the doctor to get his blood tested for a chemical called Troponin. After this, Kendra goes to inform Gardner that the doctors still want to carry out more tests, but he doesn’t understand this because he’s feeling good. He then asks if they want to send him back to Mars, but Kendra says they’ve not said anything like that.
Gardner doesn’t like this response, and he mentions that they don’t have to say anything before he knows what they want to do. As she leaves the room and heads to the roof to think about the situation, Gardner tips the pressure in the room and sneaks out. Before Nathaniel and Kendra realize this, Gardner steals a scientist’s clothes and money before making his way out by using his magnetic implant to unlock the door.
Following this, he hides inside a delivery truck, which eventually leaves the premises and heads out to the road. Shortly after, Nathaniel notices that Gardner is no longer in the building, so he sets up a team to start looking for him. As they’re about to leave the office, Kendra tells Nathaniel that he needs to allow her to find Gardner alone because he trusts her.
Nathaniel doesn’t seem to care, and he says he has already called the police and told them that Gardner needs a heart transplant and has just gotten a donor. He adds that he’ll keep Kendra updated on whatever happens, but she accuses Nathaniel of being more concerned about keeping Gardner a secret. Nathaniel denies this, and he shows her one of the ambulances that will be coming with him on the hunt to find Gardner because he’s worried about the boy’s health.
Elsewhere, Gardner finally gets off the truck and looks excited to be free. As he walks to the road, he nearly gets hit by a moving truck, but he quickly moves away. He then walks into a corner and sees a man named Waldo sitting in front of a small bonfire.
Gardner feels the warmth of the fire, and Waldo says he likes Gardner’s shades. Since Gardner also likes Waldo’s own, he agrees to switch glasses with Waldo. He then asks if Waldo knows where Colorado is. Waldo tells him to get a bus at a nearby station, and Gardner thanks him for this. Before he walks away, though, he asks about Waldo’s best thing on Earth, and he says it’s dreaming. After this, Gardner heads to the train station, but as the rain starts falling there, he walks right into it and seems amazed by it while everyone looks at him strangely.
A while later, he finally enters a bus and begins his trip to Colorado to look for Tulsa. The next day, Kendra tells Nathaniel that they need to consider going to find Tulsa. Nathaniel doesn’t understand this, but Kendra mentions that Tulsa is Gardner’s only friend on earth, and he has likely gone to look for her. After they eventually find where Tulsa lives, Nathaniel and Kendra decide to go there to find Gardner. Elsewhere, Gardner finally gets to Colorado, and he goes to Tulsa’s school.
He looks amazed to see many children around, and after he enters the school, he sees Tulsa. As he introduces himself to her, Tulsa slaps him, and he looks shocked. She then mentions that she can’t believe he ghosted her for seven months.
Gardner says he was on the trip to see her, but she asks why he couldn’t just text or call her to at least update her on where he was. Gardner says it was a specific type of travel, but Tulsa doesn’t believe him. She then says she didn’t like being ghosted by the one person she didn’t hate, but Gardner says he would never do that. He adds that he has actually gone through a lot to be with her. Following this, Tulsa tells him to wait in the hallway because she has a class to attend.
After she leaves, Gardner eventually comes to her class and pretends to be a transfer student. Tulsa then asks why he didn’t wait outside, but he says he already waited long enough. As the teacher asks a question, Gardner answers it well, and everyone applauds him. After the class, Tulsa asks where he’s really from, and he says Mars. Tulsa thinks he’s lying, but Gardner shows her a picture of his parents, and tells her that Sarah is already dead.
Tulsa says she’s sorry, but Gardner says she didn’t do anything. He adds that it’s also his fault that Sarah died because he killed her. Tulsa doesn’t understand this, but Gardner says he wants her to help him find his dad.
Tulsa then takes him to her house and tells him to wait outside while she gets a few things inside. As Gardner admires her dog, he suddenly sees Nathaniel and Kendra standing behind the fence and telling him to come back to the lab. Gardner tells them to leave him alone, and he also mentions that he’s going to look for his dad because he’s all that he has.
Kendra says he has her, but Gardner tells her to stop lying because she once told him that she didn’t want kids. Kendra says it’s not what she meant, but Gardner doesn’t seem to care. As he runs away, Tulsa sees this from inside her house, and she also heads out.
While Kendra is chasing Gardner, Tulsa flies her foster dad’s plane to the field and tells her best friend to jump into the other seat. After he does this, she flies it into the sky, and Nathaniel looks disappointed. Almost immediately, the plane develops a problem, and as Tulsa manages to get it back on land, she tells Gardner to jump out. As they both leave the plane, it crashes into a shed and explodes. When Nathaniel and Kendra get to the scene, they’re told by the security officials that there was no human being involved in the crash.
Nathaniel is relieved to hear this, but he looks pissed that Gardner is still on the run. Elsewhere, Tulsa steals a car, and even though Gardner thinks it’s wrong, he also enters it. As Tulsa drives away, she asks what he meant earlier when he said he killed his mom. Gardner says that Sarah died giving birth to him, but Tulsa looks shocked because it doesn’t mean he killed her. As she then asks about Nathaniel, Gardner says he’s the owner of Genesis, and that Kendra is an astronaut who was with him on Mars.
Tulsa thinks he’s lying, so she parks the car and tells him to get down. She then says she’s tired of people always lying to her, but Gardner says he’s telling the truth. He adds that Sarah gave birth to him on Mars, and it’s where he has been living since.
He also says he’s sorry that people always lie to her. Even though she still thinks he’s not telling the truth, she lets him back into the car. Shortly after, they stop at a restaurant, and Tulsa steals someone’s phone to find out if Gardner is telling the truth. As she checks online for Sarah, she discovers that Gardner’s mom reportedly died of a pressure suit failure after she landed on Mars. Gardner says it’s a lie, and that it’s only part of a cover-up because he’s a secret.
He then shows Tulsa a ring he found in his mother’s box, and as she checks the words written on it, it leads them to a Shaman named Neka who likely got Gardner’s parents married. As they discover that they have to go to Arizona to find the man, they leave the restaurant, and Gardner also gets to drive the car. During their trip, he keeps staring at Tulsa, and as she asks what’s wrong, he says she’s beautiful.
Tulsa sounds shocked to hear this, and even though she believes he shouldn’t be too straightforward, she says she likes him and finds him amazing. Elsewhere, the cops find a boy and a girl hiding in a car, so they call Nathaniel to inform him. As he gets to the scene, he sees only the girl in a car and angrily drags her to ask where Gardner is.
Interestingly, the boy and girl turn out to be complete strangers, and Kendra wonders why Nathaniel was dragging the girl angrily. As she asks what’s really going on with him, he says he feels bad about subjecting Gardner to a life he didn’t ask for. He adds that it was easy to watch him through a video on Mars, but that it’s killing him to see Gardner in person.
He also mentions that he thought he gave the right solution to the problem, but he didn’t know it would make him sad. He adds that his guilt was what made him abandon the company for many years. Just then, Kendra gets a call from a doctor who informs her that Gardner has elevated levels of Troponin in his blood.
As she tells Nathaniel and asks what it means, he says that Gardner is suffering from a having large heart, and that they need to find him immediately because he might not survive for much longer due to Earth’s gravity. Meanwhile, Gardner and Tulsa continue their journey to Arizona and eventually find Neka. He then confirms that the ring is from him, and that the other part of it must be with Gardner’s father.
As he pulls up the record of the person who paid for it, they see that only Sarah’s name is on the receipt. Gardner looks worried because he might not find his father, but Tulsa says that Sarah’s address is on it, and they can just find the place. After using Neka’s computer, Tulsa sees the beach house the address leads to, and Gardner notices that he’s bleeding through his nose.
He hides this from Tulsa, and after looking at the house she found, he recognizes it as the one in the video his mom saved on her flash drive. Since they know where it is, Gardner tells them to go there, and they leave Neka’s place. As they return to the car, Tulsa notices that Gardner is not looking well, but he says he’s fine.
She then suggests taking him to see a beautiful place in the city. As they get there, Gardner gets overwhelmed by the lights and everything around, and he eventually starts bleeding heavily through his nose. Tulsa looks shocked by this, but before she knows what’s happening, he falls to the ground. He’s then taken to a hospital, where the doctors find out that he has a rare case of an enlarged heart. Tulsa realizes that he has not been lying, and as he’s finally taken to the ward, she goes to see him.
Even though he’s still unconscious, Tulsa says she’ll find his dad for him and tell him how much he loves him. Suddenly, Gardner wakes up and says they have to leave. Tulsa says he has to stay in the hospital, but Gardner says they can’t help him. He adds that no matter how much he wants to stay on Earth, the planet doesn’t want him. Following this, Tulsa sneaks him out of the hospital, and they head over to a place called Summerland to find his dad.
Elsewhere, Nathaniel tells Kendra that based on Gardner and Tulsa’s movements, he knows where they are going. The next day, Gardner and Tulsa get to the beach house and see his dad inside. As the man looks shocked, Gardner gives him the picture he saved from his mom’s video. The man asks how he got it, and Gardner explains that his mom is Sarah. The man thinks they’re lying, and as he says he’ll call the police, Tulsa confronts him and tells him to stop being weird.
As she tells the man how they found him and the house, he says that Sarah was his sister. Tulsa is shocked by this, but as she looks back, she sees that Gardner is no longer in the house, and he’s about to enter the ocean. Tulsa immediately runs to stop him, but he tells her that he can feel his mom calling him into the water. Tulsa says he can still be saved, but Gardner says it’s already late. He adds that he didn’t get to choose where he was born, but he would like the opportunity to choose where he dies.
After he falls into the water, Nathaniel shows up out of nowhere and carries him out. He then wakes Gardner, who asks him what Sarah was like. Nathaniel says she was fearless, and that he nearly gave up on living when she died.
Gardner realizes that he loved her, and as he asks if Nathaniel is his dad, he says he is. Following this, Gardner is taken to Genesis so he can board a space shuttle that will take him high in the sky to stabilize his health. Unfortunately, Gardner doesn’t get better, and Nathaniel suggests taking the shuttle higher into space. The pilot says it’s against protocol, but Nathaniel takes control and flies the shuttle into space. After they start floating, Kendra tells Tulsa to wake Gardner up, and she does just this.
As he wakes up, Tulsa looks happy, but she tells him that he has to go back to Mars. Gardner says he doesn’t want to leave her, but she convinces him that it’s best if he returns to Mars. The next day, Gardner gets ready for a flight to Mars, and he says goodbye to Kendra. He also tells her that she’s the best mom he has ever had, and this makes her smile. As he’s then about to board the space shuttle, Tulsa shows up to say goodbye to him, and he asks if she’ll be okay without him.
She says she will, and he says she’s amazing. Following this, Gardner joins the other astronauts leaving for Mars. Surprisingly, Nathaniel is also one of them, and he looks happy to be following his son to Mars.
Days later, Kendra goes to meet Tulsa and tells her that she has just been assigned to be in charge of a NASA training program. Kendra then asks if Tulsa would like to be her daughter, and she agrees. Shortly after, while Kendra watches Tulsa training with NASA, Nathaniel and Gardner also walk around Mars looking happy together.
Despite being born on Mars, Gardner always wanted to go to Earth to meet other people in the world. He later got the chance to do this, and he also met his best friend, who eventually realized what he went through just to visit her.
Unfortunately, Gardner’s health didn’t allow him to stay on Earth for long, but he accomplished his goal of finding his dad, who turned out to be Nathaniel. They went to Mars together, and Tulsa also got to live in a stable foster home with Kendra.
But do you think humans will one day be able to live on Mars?