Mercury

In the story, '8113 ', Mercury is the first site where active and usable ore was discovered by drilling into its core. Shortly after, the mining company, Vaux Refineries, initiated a large-scale mining project. The first refined Mercurian ore was used to fully establish livable ultra-terrestrial habitats for humans, such as the Colonies and Mars.

Mercurian ore is known to be slow-moving, with low geodynamic activity, meaning the energy released from it is weak but long-lasting. In 8113 AD, traces of Mercurian ore are hard to come by, except in elderly geotomatons. The term 'Mercurian' has become synonymous with meaning 'old'. Senator Storn Gibson often associates his forgetfulness with 'the Mercurian in me '.

Unfortunately, due to reckless over-mining, Mercury collapsed in on itself in \\\. It's structural issues were known by Martian engineers but were ignored. This event triggered the first of the Seven Wars between the Colonies and Mars. In 8113 AD, only a few traces of Mercury are discernible in the Solar System; fragments of the shattered planet simply float aimlessly in orbit.