Die on Mars

That night.

Tang Yue lay on the bed tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

There was the sound of an old cat banging on the table outside the door, mixed with curse words that Tang Yue couldn't understand, such as "I'm your ancestor Banban" and "Mother Xipi". If nothing else, it was the computer that had given up its burden again. .

This is really a bad-tempered and foul-mouthed Doraemon.

Tang Yue thought silently.

During this period, Lao Mao often worked all night. He drove Tang Yue to sleep and guarded the workstation to process data.

Tang Yue wanted to get up to help but was pushed back. In the words of the old cat, if you don't die suddenly, it will be a big help.

"Girl, have you slept?" Tang Yue asked softly.

"No." Maidong answered in the headset, "I haven't gone to bed yet. The sun outside the window is still bright, and I am eating."

"Every time I talk to you, you are either eating or looking for something to eat." Tang Yue slightly adjusted the angle of the earphones, rested his head on his arm, and looked at the white ceiling of the crew cabin.

"Because I'm hungry." The girl's voice was unclear, and she didn't know what she was chewing. "In order to maintain sufficient physical strength, you must replenish energy in time when you are hungry. This is what Mr. Cat told you."

After Maidong finished speaking, he took a gulp of water.

Tang Yue was so envious when he heard that.

"Where's Mr. Cat? Has he rested?"

"No." Tang Yue turned his head and glanced at the door curtain of the crew cabin. The light filtered through the gap in the zipper. "It is still fighting wits with the computer. Recently, the old cat often plugs in the wires and works until dawn. He wants to make Orion 2 The difficulty of safely entering the atmosphere is too great, and there is so much data to be processed that the HP workstation almost collapsed."

"Tang Yue, I watched a movie today." Maidong said, "'Roman Holiday'."

"Is it that movie starring Audrey Hepburn?" Tang Yue knew very little about these old movies full of artistic flavor from the last century. He prefers blockbusters with strong visual stimulation, such as the repeatedly rebooted Transformers series and The Complete Entering the fantasy Marvel movie, Audrey Hepburn's name is really familiar. This actress who has stunned the world for a whole century is one of the few Western actresses whose names Tang Yue knows. The others are Marilyn Monroe and Vivien Leigh.

Tang Yue remembered the name of the female lead, but not the male lead. To be honest, he felt that no matter who the leading actor in a Western movie from the early last century was, he looked like Clark Gable.

"Yes." Maidong said, "The heroine is Audrey Hepburn."

Reading and watching movies are the few ways for the two of them to rest and relax. Compared with books and movies, games consume more time and energy. Maidong is not very interested in games, while Tang Yue is playing "The Elder Scrolls 5" Supreme Gold. After clearing the reset version, I didn’t play the game much anymore.

Since there was no one else around, Tang Yue and Maidong could only exchange their thoughts with each other after watching the movie. Maidong talked to Tang Yue about "My Fair Lady" and "Shawshank Redemption", and Tang Yue talked to Maidong about "Transformers: Invincible Iron Bull." "Battle with Yuanshi Tianzun" and "Resident Evil: Li Sanguang's Revenge", both sides nodded their heads, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh.

"How was the movie?" Tang Yue asked.

"Did not notice."

"Did not notice?"

Maidong nodded, "I didn't pay attention to the plot of the movie."

"If you don't pay attention to the plot, then what are you paying attention to?"

"Sunshine, air, streets, trees, cities, and pedestrians coming and going." Maidong replied, "Rome is a very beautiful city."

Tang Yue has never been to Rome, nor has he seen the movie "Roman Holiday". He doesn't know whether the city of Rome is beautiful, but Audrey Hepburn is very beautiful.

"Sometimes I think that even if I become a tree, growing in a valley with green grass and bathing in the sun, it will be very pleasant." Maidong said, "Do you know Sanmao's poem? If there is In the next life, I want to be a tree and stand for eternity without any gestures of joy or sorrow."

"Half is at peace in the earth,

Half of it is flying in the wind.

Half of it is covered with shade,

Half bathed in sunlight.

Very silent and very proud.

Never rely and never seek. "

The girl's voice was very soft, like her own soul floating in the wind with nowhere to land.

"This kind of movie is too literary and not suitable for me." Tang Yue muttered, "I like exciting movies. Maidong, have you seen "Saw"?"

"Horror film?"

"It's not a horror movie, it's an older series. However, there were new movies released in the past two years. Maidong, let me tell you, this movie is very exciting!" Tang Yue said, "There are many movies in this series. It’s like ketchup, which is free and splashes everywhere.”

"Ketchup?" Maidong was startled, "Is there a lot of ketchup?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll go take a look next time."

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Old Cat: Did you trick that girl into watching "Saw"?

Tang Yue nodded.

Old Cat: What then?

Tang Yue: Now she keeps telling me that she feels she is not the only one in the space station.

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"Are you asleep?"

"No, How about you?"

"No." Tang Yue opened his eyes, "I probably have insomnia."

As soon as Tang Yue closed his eyes, the approaching comet and the crashing Orion 2 spacecraft appeared in his mind. He didn't dare to raise the flag randomly, but Tang Yue couldn't stop his mind from thinking wildly. He would even dream of crashing and burning. In the Orion spacecraft, Lao Mao's calculations were wrong in the dream, the engine failed, the propellant tank leaked and exploded, Maidong desperately asked for help on the channel, but he could do nothing.

He could only watch helplessly as the flames engulfed the spacecraft, the sound in the communication channel gradually disappeared, the huge fireball disintegrated in the high-speed fall, and the fragments scattered on the Martian wasteland.

Finally he woke up from the nightmare, covered in cold sweat.

Every time Tang Yue would subconsciously call Maidong, and he would feel at ease only after the latter responded.

"I fell asleep for a short while, but woke up again." Maidong said, "I had a dream."

"What dream?"

"I... I dreamed that the plan failed and the Orion spacecraft crashed." Maidong was silent for a few seconds. "I was sitting in the Eagle lander, with flames in all directions. I saw Orion's engine burning and falling from the window. …I wanted to contact you and Mr. Cat, but the communication was interrupted, I couldn’t contact anyone, I didn’t know what to do, I kept falling.”

There was deep fear in the girl's voice.

"It's just a dream." Tang Yue comforted her, "It's okay, girl, it's just a dream. Sleep well. You will have to continue working when you get up tomorrow morning."

"Uh-huh."

Maidong stopped talking and tried to fall asleep.

Tang Yue opened his eyes. Although he coaxed Maidong to sleep, he couldn't fall asleep himself. Tang Yue turned his head and glanced outside the door curtain, and the old cat's voice came faintly: "Dead! Mother Xipi, you are here again." I'm dying!"