Sports of the Future
Author: СКРЯБИН ВЕНИАМИН АНДРЕЕВИЧ / SCRIABIN VENIAMIN ANDREEVICH

Prologue
I wrote this story based on my assumptions and those prerequisites that are already visible in the world. They can lead science and entertainment to mutually beneficial cooperation. And maybe not…

1
In the cabin of the spacecraft, seven special cryo-modules resembling a clam shell were located against the metal walls. They were intended for the players of the Tera space game team
There were also two doors installed opposite each other, one illuminated in green, the other in red. Behind the door with the green light was a room for personal needs, and behind the red one was the rest of the ship.
23-year-old Konstantin, the youngest player of the national team of the Central European pan-region of the earth, continued to speak incessantly to the levitating camera. Everyone else was lying quietly: someone was sleeping, and someone was just passing the time in their own way before the start.
- Stop talking, we'll be landing soon. After sleeping, my head aches anyway, and then you mumble," said team captain Mikhail Alexandrovich, who looks big, but you can see from his face that a kind man is a little older than middle–aged.
"I've already finished, you didn't have enough patience, Captain," Kostya replied with respect.
- Shut up, soon we will have a difficult month, or even two or three, so let me sleep, - a voice came from the far corner.
Kostya stood up to see who said it. It was Ulyana, a girl with short red hair and a beautiful girlish face. She was a year older than him, but in character she could be compared to an adult, slightly grumpy woman.
- So go to sleep, you're not doing anything anyway, and I have a responsible task. You yourself decided that I should broadcast, so be quiet," he looked at the screen and brought the camera to him.
The messages in the broadcast chat changed each other very quickly, but he could still read and respond to them. His attention was attracted by the question "What are the rules of the competition? Sorry for the stupid question, I just wasn't interested in competitions before."
– I'm surprised that you don't know, I'll answer the question now, – Kostya reacted to the camera, - there are three main rules in competitions, the rest are side rules. First: the team does not know anything until the start of the game, it has to find out everything on the spot. Second: before the game, the task that we are given was performed on earth, so theoretically the task may not be feasible. Third: if none of the teams coped with the task, the decision is made by a special commission, based on the actions during the game.
- Finished?
- Not yet.
- Great, then shut up and let me rest, – they said from the same side as last time, but now it was Daniel, Ulyana's partner at these competitions.
Kostya met him during training before the competition, and remembered that sometimes it's better not to argue with him because of his quick temper, and the difference in physique is one and a half times. And this is despite the ideal height of 180 centimeters and the weight of 72 kilograms of Bone. Daniel was the embodiment of the hero from Slavic fairy tales.
- I'll take a break, but I'll see you soon at the start of the 12 Tera competitions on Earth, with the team of the Central European pan-region of the Earth!
He pushed the camera aside and lay down comfortably in the cryo module; they were not suitable for normal rest, his legs began to get numb, so from time to time he tossed and turned. There was silence in the cabin, everyone was gaining strength and were a little excited about the upcoming game.
Four and a half hours later, a holographic clock appeared above the red door, counting down the time from 1 Earth hour. The signal of the players' readiness rang. Next to each cryo-module, a wall was moved away, in which there was an individual space suit for staying on the ship. The white color perfectly combined with the orange lines on the suit. These were the national colors of their pan-region.
Everyone started getting up from the modules, someone went to take a shower after a long flight, someone warmed up, and someone immediately put on a suit. Kostya began to stream, answering questions from the audience, dressing along the way and taking small interviews with the players of his team.
When the timer started counting down the last two minutes, the team was already standing ready, looking at the clock. For the last ten seconds they counted aloud all together, just as many count down the time until the new year.
After zero, the holography turned into a young woman in a white dress, Asian appearance with black hair and a kind smile.
- I welcome the participants of the 17 Tera space competitions. I am Kiyu Sanwu, the host of these competitions, I want to wish the teams success in this competition, and in order not to detain you, I will immediately read out the main task of the competition. You need to create a terrarium with your biosphere within 45 Earth days, autonomous, independent of external sources. The winner will be determined upon arrival on Earth, when your terrariums will be tested by time. If the terrarium stands autonomously until your arrival on earth and retains more than 85% of all flora and fauna, then your team has coped with the task. Players, are you ready? So let the time be for you.
- For us! The whole team shouted back.
The clock began to count down: starting from the last second, the team had 45 Earth days to complete the task.
The door opened and the Captain led everyone behind him. They ran lightly along the long corridors of the spaceship, to the right in one of them, the designation of the cargo section of the ship appeared: the captain only pointed with his hand, as Ulyana and Daniil had already separated from them and went in that direction.
Usually, during training, they worked out possible variations of tasks and analyzed the games of previous years, because of the uncertainty at the beginning of the game. However, at the start, the sequence of actions is the same: a team divided into pairs learns information in its field.
Basically, the scheme is three plus one: the first pair studies the available materials, equipment and their components. The second one studies the planet with all its features and location. The third begins to form a work plan based on the information received from the first and second pair. The captain either joins one of the pairs, or works on everything at once supervising the entire course of work.
The rest of the crew made it to the ship's control center. The captain pointed out where the main computers with all the instruments for studying the planet are located. It was necessary to get a lot of different information: from the location of the planet, to its climate and planetary features.
Tatiana and Maria took up this work, having served for a dozen years in exploration interplanetary missions, earning a name for themselves in space research of our time and earning dozens of medals and awards, they were better suited for this (when selecting people for the team), and their knowledge of biology and scientific activity in this field did not leave a chance for others candidates.
Each team player was responsible for several types of work at once, but they all went consistently, and did not overload them physically and mentally. Konstantin and Sergey, the last couple of their team, sat down on the right side of the Captain, in the control center, and began to study the features of the ship: its capabilities, available cabins. At the same time, we were collecting information into a common database for further work on the development of a terrarium model and the progress of its construction.
Ulyana and Daniil went around the entire cargo hold, making a list of everything that is there, simultaneously checking the condition and operability of equipment with equipment for further work.

2
A couple of hours after the launch, the Captain organized a small meeting to discuss the issues that arose and analyze the data received. It was also a reason for the players to take a break: the captain understood that the team would stop only in the evening. The first couple, Daniil and Ulyana, were not invited to the control center, but simply called them by video link.
"First pair, your report," the Captain said.
- There are a lot of building materials on board, I'll show you the list now, – Daniel brought the list to the screen so that everyone could see, – there is enough for the construction of a small settlement, and for a terrarium with a vengeance. There is everything: from starting devices for calculating terrain, to complex technical systems of autonomous life support, with different types. With technology, everything is not so joyful: one planetoid for any terrain and conditions of the planets, and one universal modern machine with multiple construction attachments.
- Can you handle these?
- Yes, I was a tester of this machine during its development.
- What about flora and fauna? You haven't sent us anything yet," Maria remarked. Her words sounded firm and clear, as if by statute.
Many were interested in whether she understood that this was no longer an army, and an extra-articular attitude was not prohibited here.
- Here we have two news, one good, the second - it's up to you, - Daniel was silent, said Ulyana, – good: we found one of the complication organizers.
- Complication? – Maria didn't understand what it was about.
- Don't you know? Kostya was surprised.
- no.
- Can I explain? – Kostya turned to the Captain, and he nodded affirmatively, although he was surprised.
Kostya pulled up the camera for the stream and began to explain: – During the competition, the organizers can further complicate the task for all teams, but without saying where, when and how. This simulates an emergency, although there are enough ordinary ones. After the team finds this complication, it gets an electronic ticket (organizational complication). They can play a decisive role in choosing the winner if none of the teams has completed the task. But, in principle, this is a souvenir, since they almost never came in handy.
- Thank you, Konstantin. Maria, why didn't you know about this?
- I heard superficially, but I didn't put an emphasis on it during training. It will be much better to train according to your profile. – she was unperturbed, although she understood that she had made a serious mistake.
- Okay, there's nothing complicated about it. Juliana, what's the complication?

- We checked the condition of the flora and fauna of the future terrarium, everything is in order, however, we were very surprised to find that everything belongs to the Jurassic land. There were more than 30 species of dinosaurs on board, 5 of which were predators, a couple of small mammals and more than a hundred different insects. And all the flora needs to be grown independently, fortunately, the equipment and seasonings with fertilizer allow the tree to grow in a day.
"There's nothing complicated about it, we can handle it, Captain," Maria said.
Tatiana, who was sitting behind her, agreed. Their pair will be responsible for the settlement of the terrarium and the state of the biosphere in the future.
- If you say so, then I'm not worried. And what can you say about the planet?
- We are very lucky, – Tatiana explained, - now we don't know much about the planet and its location. The star system in which the planet was located resembled our native one, but the star is many times younger, the number of planets is 5, there are still 2 meteorite belts. Our planet is the second, which is why it is quite warm during the day and not cold at night. You may have noticed that the days here go much faster than on Earth: they are 15 hours, 43 minutes and 3 seconds. Meteorites and asteroids fall on the planet very rarely, all because of those two belts - they protect the planet, and as scavengers collect everything into themselves. Why they do not fly from them is not yet known. All these factors make it possible for the safety and autonomous existence of the terrarium after our departure. Also, here is a map - it was displayed on the full screen, shifting the first pair from the screen - on which we noted the presence of other teams, all of them are located in the same latitude with us at a fairly close distance from each other, about 15 kilometers away.
- Do you know anything about the planet itself?
- The materials are still being mined and the survey is not finished, but surprisingly all the indicators remind us of Mars.
- If it really looks like Mars, then this is good news ... 3 pair, what can you tell us?
- We have obtained a detailed map of the ship and studied its structure. This is a typical cargo interstellar spacecraft with a fairly small but necessary set of cabins for crew members and a cabin with several robots. According to rough calculations, from the data that are available to us, there is more than enough material, the territory of the terrarium can be made up to 20 hectares, it will be clear for sure after approximate calculations of the second pair, the necessary territory for the biosphere.
Sergey couldn't boast of anything, basically all the time they just sat and waited.
- Then we continue, lights out for work in five hours. Sergey, send everyone a map of the ship and take care of dinner for today. Bring the ship's robots into working order, if necessary, take Konstantin with you.

3
Sergey did everything he was ordered to do on his own and continued to work with the ever-talkative Kostya. In the evening, they interrupted work on modeling the terrarium and its construction plan. The enthusiasm was still burning in them, they were eager to work to the end, but the Captain ordered them to go to dinner with everyone, and then, if they wanted, they could go back to work.
The team tried the first normal dinner for the body in three months, but according to the memory, they also ate delicious the day before yesterday. Everyone was sitting at a round table lit by white light lamps. Behind them was a kitchen with a robot cook. But you couldn't tell from it that it was a robot. In appearance, it looked like a multi-armed cylinder mounted on a moving rod that could move throughout the kitchen. The robot must provide the team with delicious and healthy food until the end of the competition. In addition to running and providing everything necessary for cooking, it was autonomous
Basically, they ate cooked warmed-up food on the ships, but at the competitions they provided food for the teams for better meals (plus, it was an advertisement for the next sponsors).
- It is inconvenient that because of the competition, we have to go into cryo-sleep, as a result we become younger than our relatives and friends, - Kostya noted.
- I found something to worry about. You won't get anything from one flight," Sergei said.
- I planned to participate in "Tera" more than once.
- Ha-ha, - Ulyana laughed at his statement, - no one will ask you. You know perfectly well what the competition is here, so it will be very difficult to get in a second time.
- Ulyana is right, - Daniel agreed, putting a bottle of juice on the table, - according to statistics, 73.6% of players did not participate more than once, and you can not dream of multiple participation at all.
- Don't ruin a child's dream.
Kostya liked that the Captain stood up for him, but the comparison with the child somehow did not inspire, especially because of the laughter after this phrase.
– Kostya, are you afraid that one day you will fly home and your grandmother will meet you instead of your wife? The Captain asked.
- No, but…
- That's good, with all the difference in time and the rules of life of candidates… you, subject to constant participation, will be younger than your wife by only ten years at the end of your life. Not to mention that she can also go into cryo-sleep on earth while you're gone.
- What about the children? Who will raise them? Kostya was surprised.
- Up to 15 they will have to be looked after, and then they will have their own road. So you'll be a little younger than your wife.
- Oh, I came up with an idea, – Daniel shouted, – take a wife 10 years younger than yourself, and then she will catch up with you at the end of her life.
- It's not funny, – unlike Bones, it sounded funny to everyone, - I'll think about what you said, Captain... I have another question. The competition committee could easily recreate the necessary conditions on the satellites of Jupiter or Saturn, then the broadcast would be real, and the savings from long-distance flights would be…
- Tired of talking to AI? - said sergey.
- A little annoying already, but only a day has passed, and the questions are banal.
- Kostya, the organizers should have the maximum benefit, so the task of the players in "Tera" is: either a task from one of the scientific or state administration, or an order from a large corporation or someone else. When everything ends, the customer takes everything for himself, paying a large sum of money for the work done. Plus, advertising, sponsors and the transformation of our work into a show on a planetary scale, makes it possible for scientific projects to develop space. There is no longer a question of funding some scientific research, which is why a new scientific space breakthrough has begun. Pulling the rest of the scientific world with it.
The fun continued, everyone at the table talked about the impression of the first day and the work done. Also, the Captain shared his experience of past competitions and congratulated everyone on an easy task at these competitions, because now everything will depend on the speed of the players, and with their experience and training, they have every chance of winning.
At the end of the dinner, Daniel asked everyone a question for whom which competitions would be the most difficult if they participated there.
Everyone plunged into memories of the games of previous years, but most of all everyone was curious to listen to the Captain with his 5 competitions under his belt. When his turn came, everyone fell silent, they were interested.
He remembered 8 competitions, then they were still held live. He was ill at the time, so he didn't take part. Then the teams were faced with the task of terraforming the satellite, which was an innovation at that time. It was also surprising that they found 9 identical satellites for this, and at the same time suitable for teroforming.
Unfortunately, none of the teams were able to complete the task at that time. An unforeseen catastrophe occurred, no one was watching the planet and a giant asteroid crashed into it. At that time, the teams did not have the equipment to control the nearby space as it is now, so they only found out when the shock wave from the collision flew to them, followed by millions of fragments of the planet. Then 7 of the 9 ships were able to fly away from the satellites, and only 4 dodged the fragments, and returned safely to Earth.
After such a story, it was no longer fun, but no one wanted to diverge on a sad note. The silence did not last long, the Captain took everything into his own hands and cheered up his team with an anecdote with black humor. Having stayed longer than planned as a result, but the evening was memorable.

4
Working all night on modeling, the third couple managed to identify the necessary details for construction and create a preliminary model of the future terrarium, as well as determine the ideal place for construction, from those that the second couple offered them.
It was located on a hill, eight kilometers from their location, from there you could see the nearest neighbors, the team of the western pan-region of the planet Earth.
The construction area was not secured by anyone, so construction had to start immediately. In the morning, the Captain listened to the third couple, and all, except Tatiana and Maria, went to the future construction site.
The site looked more promising on the spot than on the monitor screen. Ulyana and Daniil marked the future structure, and planned where to place the equipment, material and equipment. As builders, they were preparing for the work ahead.
Konstantin and Sergey only occasionally corrected them, because of the not fully finished model, but their approach and readiness suited Sergey as the senior for modeling and construction.
Upon arrival on the ship, they completed the model and presented it to the Captain. He rejected her, they didn't understand why until Tatiana explained everything to them. All this time they were working on the classic version, forgetting about the key differences in the climate in the Jurassic period. The comments were not critical - the internal part had to be changed.
As a result, after a small meeting, the model was approved, pointing out a number of shortcomings that do not affect the integrity of the biosphere of the terrarium in any way, but will interfere and may lead to failures in the future.
In the morning of the next day, when the first couple, together with Konstantin, were sent with materials, there was an unforeseen conflict with their neighbors. The team of the western pan-region stood on the very site where they had scouted everything yesterday.

Konstantin explained that they were here yesterday and this is their place for construction. The rivals did not leave there, and in front of everyone they sent people to get materials for construction. Only then did Sergey notice that the flags were no longer there, and in their place were flags with the coat of arms of another team. Because of the uneven surface of the planet, this area was a tasty morsel.
The incident was reported to the Captain, he ordered to give way. On the way back, Kostya tried to defuse the situation, Daniel was fuming, despite the fact that he knocked over one of the team's players when he tried to stop him collecting flags, and he was also ready to build a terrarium right on their corpses.
Arriving on the ship, Konstantin and Sergey decided to change the basis of the terrarium so that it does not depend on the surface of the planet. A couple of kilometers away from them was another small plain that was supposed to come up.
After that, it was decided to go to lunch and then start construction. During the meal, the Captain asked not to get involved in conflicts with other teams anymore, and talked with Daniel. Subsequently, no one wanted to approach him for the next couple of days. It was obvious that he was holding on so as not to snap at someone, so no one wanted to become that one.

5
The construction went on without any problems. The whole construction was supervised by Sergey, Konstantin helped Ulyana with Daniel. It was decided to level the surface from improvised materials, the soil on the planet turned out to be very hard, so the pile driving nozzle was used to split an uneven layer of solid stone.
Because of such manipulations, two pile rods broke and had to be thrown out, fortunately, they were superfluous. The terrarium itself was 1/3 buried in the ground, and the tank for excess air had to be completely buried during heating, leaving only the roof in sight.
At this time, Maria and Tatiana were developing a plan for the pace and sequence of planting plants, the release of insects and animals to recreate the biosphere, they also worked on devices for defrosting animals and increasing the rate of plant growth.
For the biosphere, it was necessary to calculate everything in detail, take and plant everything en masse and then release the animals would be disastrous. From such actions, the biosphere would not be able to form. In order not to disrupt the process of maintaining balance in the biosphere, it is necessary to gradually populate new species of plants, insects and only then animals.
There were 2 days left before the terrarium was settled, when they found another surprise from the organizers. It became clear from one of the neighboring teams that the land brought for the terrarium was dead.
She was unable to grow even the most stable and picky weed. No one could imagine that such a thing would happen, so they were not ready for it.
There was an urgent need to figure out what to do, the land was no good for anything. There were options to enrich it with worms and fertilizers, but after a trial test, the worms died, and the fertilizer did not give results.
After a long discussion and a couple of studies, it was decided to use local soil: it turned out to be easier to revive it. Everyone immediately got to work - a loader nozzle was used to load a dozen tons of soil, and they fell asleep through a specially left hole in the roof of the terrarium.
We worked on the wear and tear of forces and equipment, but the deadlines set at the beginning of the work began to fit. Suddenly the Captain called, he ordered to return to the ship, a strong anticyclone was moving in their direction. Looking in the direction from which he was coming, Konstantin saw the rapid approach of a thick red wall.
He shouted to Ulyana and Daniel to get into the planetoid faster. Ulyana was already there, but Daniel went to fix some of the opened materials that could be damaged or scattered, and also drove the equipment away from the terrarium.
Being already on the ship, they waited out this storm for a day and a half, during which time Daniel could not sit still and checked the warehouses several times for the availability of equipment and spacesuits for work in difficult areas of the planet, including work in a storm.
But he did not find such equipment.

6
When everything was quiet, the Captain left with everyone to assess the consequences. On the spot, one could come to the conclusion that they were lucky. There are a couple of scratches on the surface of the terrarium, the equipment is normal, only clogged with the soil of the planet. The material remained in place and did not fly anywhere, but most of all I was glad that the terrarium stood.
The wind, which reached a speed of 170 m / s, created a torque on the open wall of the terrarium capable of breaking the entire wall from the base of the terrarium, where they covered the ground, but it withstood, which made it possible to verify the strength and stability of the entire structure.
The smile soon passed when Ulyana found a part of the casing of the terrarium. We spent more than an hour before we realized that these were not their details, during which time we found a few more. The captain went with Sergey to the side from where they were brought, and the rest continued construction. We loaded the remaining soil, sealed the hole and connected all the life support systems. Everything was ready to launch.
Kostya started checking while Sergei was away, it was impossible to launch the terrarium without his and the Captain's consent, besides Kostya was afraid he might miss something.
The captain returned with twofold news: the team of the South American pan-region was out of the game, its terrarium was scattered all over the planet along with all the materials during the storm. The fact that the opponents were less pleased, but this is not the team that would compete with them in these competitions.
Sergey said that that team made fatal mistakes in the design, they also did not expect such a strong wind, in which the unfinished terrarium shattered into pieces, unable to withstand the pressure of the wind.
After rechecking everything, Sergey found no violations and reported to the captain that the terrarium was ready for launch. The terrarium itself consisted of 4 key and 2 side buildings, which will be removed in the future.
The key ones consist of three large domed structures that come on top of each other, this is done to loop the biosphere system inside. Such a structure and a special installation of Glusov (a special system of ventilation pipes in the domes for air circulation), made it possible to create an artificial wind in the terrarium. In the 1st and 2nd domes there will be tropical forests, and in the 3rd there will be a hot plain with a reservoir entering the tropics.
The design of the dome is arranged in such a way that the energy of the local luminary is concentrated by glasses from the surface of the domes into a special sphere imitating the sun, and giving light and heat in abundance. Such spheres are installed in all three terrariums. Vegetation, insects and animals are selected in such a way as to create a closed system. The local soil was too acidic and saturated with metals, but thanks to Maria, they were able to stabilize the acidity and get rid of the excess metals, everything was ready for the formation of the biosphere.
The last structure in this system was an expansion tank for air, since the creation of the first biospheres, they could not solve the problem of its expansion when heated, so they always had to build an additional structure. The tank had to be carried to the side for half a hundred meters, there was a pit there, ideally suited for it. Since the tank was the "Achilles heel" of the terrarium, they decided to bury it.
A warehouse and a laboratory were connected to all this. These are two side structures that will be removed after sealing the terrarium. They are necessary in order not to transport already living animals and plants from the ship to the terrarium, which could slow down and endanger the biosphere with numerous entrances and exits.
When oxygen was pumped into the terrarium and the first microorganisms, insects and a couple of plants were added. It was decided to start growing large plants from the next day and add new residents.
The girls liked that most of the insects were replaced with their usual species, although when the biosphere is fully launched, they will have to change into giant creatures due to climatic conditions (such as increased oxygen content in the air).
In the evening, when celebrating the launch of the terrarium, the team shared their impressions and had fun. Due to the distance from other teams and the lack of any free information field about the course of the competition, it was interesting how everything went for the others, and how much they are ahead or behind the others.
But still some information was available. Daniel went to see how their uninvited neighbors, invaders from the western pan-region, were doing. Despite the fact that they are one of the main rivals in these competitions, they were about a week behind. According to Daniel's rough estimate, today they had to finish the construction of the terrarium, while they used the land brought from earth, and it still had to be brought inside. The news that they were able to revive the earth struck Tatiana and Maria the most,
The captain did not like the stalking from his team, besides, Daniel was seen then, and on that day he had to talk to the Leader of that team.

7
There were 17 days left until the end of the competition, the team reached the finish line. Now it remains for them to create a stable biosphere and seal the terrarium. From this moment, the total time for completing the task will be counted.
A key role in choosing the winner will be played by a time check, when upon arrival on earth they will be shown what happened to the terrarium.
The broadcast of the player of each team and the video from the sides of the ship will be presented as in real time, while the teams will be under the strictest supervision without the possibility of contacting anyone, but in luxury like kings.
The organizers have always been afraid of information leaks, because the competitions brought not a small income from bets and forecasts for them. When the competition comes to an end and the teams leave the planet, they begin a week-long tour before the results are announced. They don't know what happened to their work, so they worry along with the audience.

At the peak of such tension, the results are announced in a solemn atmosphere. All this was waiting for every team participating in the Tera competitions.

8
At night the alarm rang.
Sensors of violation of the biosphere system triggered in the terrarium, immediately gathering, everyone left the ship. It was the longest and most exciting road for the entire time of the competition.
The captain was pushing the maximum speed, but everyone had the feeling that they were walking at a walking pace. Having reached the place and jumped off the planetoid, the Captain divided everyone. Some were sent to inspect the outer layer of the terrarium, others went to the expansion tank, Konstantin, Sergei and the Captain went to the main entrance.
Everything was closed when they entered the laboratory, there was still air there, just like in the warehouse. The captain did not allow to remove the spacesuits and ordered Sergey to check the system. In a couple of clicks on the computer keyboard, it became clear that there was no air in the terrarium.
It took a couple of seconds for all the air to come out of there, at that time they were all just about to leave, so they wouldn't have had time to do anything. Kostya and the Captain entered the terrarium through a connecting airlock designed to protect the terrarium during depressurization of the laboratory or warehouse, but everything turned out the other way around.
It was dark inside, it was dark, Kostya was ordered to stand between 1 and 3 dome, the Captain stood between 1 and 2, then told to turn off all flashlights. It got even darker, now they couldn't see anything.
Everyone who was outside was ordered to launch flares, no one understood why, until Kostya explained that they wanted to see from the inside if there were holes in the terrarium with the help of light rays.
Shots were heard, and a light red light began to fill the spheres of the terrarium, it was still not enough to see something. Looking around, Kostya did not see anything that would mean a hole in one of the domes of the terrarium.
The captain ordered to look more closely, at this moment he was interrupted by Tatiana. They found the problem, and it was in the expansion tank.
There was a terrible picture before my eyes, a working machine was standing over the tank and a half-driven pile for the foundation, which broke through the tank.
"Pure sabotage," flashed through the minds of most players.
But who and why do this? Although this is a game, but they can disqualify you for this, why take such a risk?
Mikhail ordered not to make baseless accusations, and it is better to immediately restore the terrarium and its biosphere. He also recalled the article in the rules of the competition, which states that all charges and trials take place only on the Ground, and until that moment it remains only to work in silence.
Sergey wrote that it would be necessary to replace the upper part of the tank and sent the first pair for them. Tatiana and Maria went to the laboratory to calculate a new settlement sequence to create a biosphere. Some of the microorganisms and insects were lost forever, as they were completely populated in a terrarium for a faster process.
The Captain also sent Kostya and Sergey to the laboratory, while he remained at the scene of the incident. After a short stay near the broken tank, he went to the ship when Ulyana and Daniil arrived with the material for construction. The captain needed to sort out what had happened without aggravating their relations with other teams, and trying to concentrate them at work, so no one knew anything about the further investigation, and all the evidence, including the video from the cameras, was stored only with him.
In the morning, the first and third pair restored the terrarium, surprisingly the most difficult thing was to remove the stuck pile in the tank body. For reliability, they reinforced the tank and fenced off the site of its location, although some did not like this idea.
Tatiana and Maria had the hardest time of all: the absence of half of the main organisms did not allow them to easily launch the biosphere. Now it was necessary to make a sharp leap forward, missing the basis of the formation of the biosphere, which could jeopardize its entire integrity.
They were stressed and exhausted because of hard work, they did not want to take risks, so they worked out new versions again and again, not finding a plan with 100% probability. Everyone felt sorry for them, they could not find a place for themselves because the work would not continue until they told them how and what to do.
Two days later, when the work had not progressed, and the others had done everything possible at this stage and were preparing to move into the terrarium, the Captain gathered everyone and spoke on behalf of the remaining players to Tatiana and Maria. They wanted to take a chance and, if the case fails, they will think about what to do next. I didn't want to put everything on Tatiana and Maria, everyone took responsibility for it, yet they were a team. When asked who agrees, everyone raised their hands, it inspired the girls, after they offered the most advantageous option, but not without a chance to lose. After this mini-meeting, everyone started settling in.
The game was worth the candle, everything went like clockwork for the next week, no one talked about it, was afraid to jinx it, although no one was superstitious. The latter was brought to the terrarium by a small predatory Anchiornis, a very popular pet dinosaur in their time. Now all that remained was to seal the terrarium and monitor the biosphere in order to correct the errors found in time.
They didn't know anything about the other teams, there was an intrigue of secrecy in the last days before leaving.
Everyone was wondering who and when completed the task, who succeeded, and who was left behind. These days, the whole crew lived peacefully on the ship, looking after the terrarium and enjoying the desolate beauty of the planet.
On the last day, after loading everything that was left and was not useful on the ship, everyone went to the room from which everything began on this planet. they were immersed in cryo-sleep in modules resembling clam shells. Before going to bed, the Captain wanted to tell everyone the truth about what happened to the tank so that they would fall asleep with a smile on their face, but he did not, deciding to show them the organizers' ticket when they arrived on earth
The epilogue.
Since childhood, I have loved to learn something new, so I have been following the scientific world with pleasure. Seeing now is not a healthy attitude towards the scientific world on the part of the government, which does not strive to develop certain areas of science, which is why quite promising types of developments are disappearing. At this time, sponsorship from ordinary people to projects began to develop strongly, with the simple word "Donat". Basically, now such donations go only to non-scientific projects. In the story, I imagined what scientific research, in particular the conquest of space, would look like in the future.

The list of sources used (mainly it served to create the idea of the story):
- https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Биосфера-2
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7lso-0SW-M
- https://www.mirf.ru/science/kolonizaciya-drugih-planet/