Dead on Mars

Mai Dong repeatedly took a few deep breaths, sucking in the air inside the helmet before letting it out. She had lowered the temperature inside the EVA suit as the low temperatures allowed her to maintain clarity of thought.

“Miss Mai Dong, your EVA suit’s temperature is dropping.” Tomcat monitored Mai Dong’s situation as it said. “At the same time, your heartbeat is rising.”

“Yes, I know,” Mai Dong replied. “It’s because it’s too hot inside the suit. I’m perspiring all over… I definitely have to take a shower when I return. I haven’t had a bath for a long time. I must be stinking.”

“Is the Water Reclaimer on the space station still operational?” Tang Yue asked.

“It is,” Mai Dong said. “The water and air reclaimer are operational. The space station is different from the surface station. This kind of completely sealed space hardly causes any loss in water… I really miss the feeling of showering on land. It just feels so great. On the space station, the water doesn’t flow down at all, and all that gets sprayed out is a mist of water that sticks to the skin.

The girl grunted. Clearly, she was very displeased with the United Space Station’s bathroom.

“I’ve already forgotten what it feels like to shower,” Tang Yue said insipidly.

“The Kunlun Station’s folding bathroom hasn’t been opened in six months,” Tomcat said faintly. “When I was inspecting it yesterday, I found a layer of dust over it.”

“Haven’t showered in six months…” The girl clicked her tongue. “Won’t you stink? It wouldn’t feel comfortable wearing clothes.”

“Have you forgotten?” Tomcat said. “This fellow doesn’t usually wear clothes.”

“Wow… guys are terrifying.” Mai Dong stared at the screwdriver in her hand. She was removing the screws on the outer shell. “I can’t imagine such a life. Isn’t the Kunlun Station like a pile of trash? It’s said that cockroaches will breed if dirty clothes are left there… I need to shower after some time. To save water, I’ve even cut my hair short.”

“Hey, hey, lady. Not showering while maintaining cleanliness is a talent guys are born with. Even if we don’t shower for prolonged periods of time, we can still remain spotless,” Tang Yue said. “Lin Ching-Hsuan once said, ‘Spotless doesn’t mean the lack of dust, but to let the dust rise while I be my own sunshine.”

“Oh.” Tomcat shot a glance at him. “You are still pretty philosophical.”

“I’m a new-age celibate philosopher that’s filled with the fortitude to criticize just like Immanuel Kant,” Tang Yue said.

“You are only someone bal…” Tomcat sneered.

“You’re the balls!”

“What balls? How crude.” Tomcat pretended to wear a blank look. “I was saying that you are only someone balking at depression.”

F*ck.

Tang Yue cursed inwardly. This darn cat was getting smarter.

Mai Dong held an electric screwdriver sucking away the third screw as she carefully stored it in her pouch.

Due to the lack of gravity, everything would float around randomly. The pouched needed to be covered, and large tools that couldn’t be stuffed into the pouches had to be inserted into protective sleeves to keep them still.

“Mr. Cat, Tang Yue, the outer shell of the sensor has been opened… There’s one last screw left.” Mai Dong removed the last screw before storing the electric screwdriver into her tool bag. “The four screws have been removed. I can now open the lid.”

The girl’s actions were very slow. When Tomcat and Tang Yue monitored her actions through the camera, it felt as if they were watching her in slow-motion.

The EVA suit used for spacewalks was even bulkier and heavier than the Radiant Armor. It was thanks to the arm that it saved her quite a bit of effort; otherwise, using the manned maneuvering unit (MMU) or taking one step at a time would be just too time-consuming.

Mai Dong removed the outer shell of the sensor, exposing the wiring within.

“Mr. Cat, I need to move slightly to the left.”

Tomcat controlled the arm to move slowly as Mai Dong adjusted her posture. She leaned in close to the sensor’s opening and to prevent any blind spots, she tied a tiny mirror in the middle of her right palm. This was a trick Tang Yue had taught her. By using a mirror, she could look into deeper corners that the human eye couldn’t see.

“Mai Dong, adjust the camera down a little. We need to access the damage to the circuit.”

Mai Dong nodded as she aimed the camera at the opening. As she moved around, Tomcat and Tang Yue saw the control circuit within the sensor. All kinds of complicated, different-colored wiring were arranged together. Each circuit had a white number that extended from different areas before heading somewhere else. Mai Dong wasn’t a professional electrician, so she couldn’t understand the letters and numbers on them.

Tang Yue sat in front of the monitor as he held the operation plans in hand while instructing Mai Dong to use a pair of tweezers to remove the surface wires and find the C1002 circuit.

“How’s the situation?” Tomcat asked.

“There’s a disconnection between the data processor and the actuator.” Tang Yue pondered for a few seconds. “The best solution is to swap out the wire. Mai Dong, look… Connected above the dark red wire is the sensor’s data processor. Connected below is the actuator’s control unit. Do you see the wire?”

“I see it.”

“That’s the wire you need to change. I suspect the reason for the malfunction is that the wire core has disconnected. At the end of this circuit is a hexagonal nut. To swap the conducting wire, you need to remove this nut. Likewise for the other end. The work needed requires a lot of precision and will be quite difficult.” Tang Yue asked. “Can you do it?”

“No problem.” Mai Dong nodded.

“There’s still another twenty minutes before the sun sets. Do you want to continue or return to the space station?” Tomcat took a look at the time.

“I can still continue.” Mai Dong blinked. Beads of sweat were clinging to her eyelashes as she subconsciously wished to raise her hand to wipe it before realizing that she was wearing an EVA suit.

“Let’s stop here.” Tang Yue shook his head. “You have already completed the goal for the first EVA (Extravehicular Activity) mission. What you need to do now is rest. Removing the conducting wire can wait until your second EVA mission. We still have time, so there’s no need to rush it. The sun will set over there soon. It’s inconvenient to work in the dark and it’s prone to problems… Tomcat, pull Mai Dong back.”

Mai Dong exhaled as she checked all her tools. Then, she leaned against the EVA suit’s internals to rest, awaiting the arm’s movement.

She looked up, seeing the towering solar panels standing before her. They were reachable just by extending her hand. These solar panels were as tall as thirteen stories. It was a massive structure that was only second to the main structure.

While inside the core module, Mai Dong didn’t find it large, only when she approached it did she realize the magnificence of the giant. There were a total of eight solar panels and when the eight panels aligned before you, you would feel a deep sense of alarm.

When you realized that you were in Martian orbit more than a hundred million kilometers away from Earth, you would become shocked.

The arm began moving as it took Mai Dong away from the battery bank.

Sunlight shot through the gaps in the solar panels as the steel, rectangular structure, and the cylindrical cabins formed a complicated composition in Mai Dong’s eyes.

In the pitch-black, cold background, humanity’s heavy industry occupied most of this composition. The light and shadows drew a clear outline. It was just a cold machine, a product of physics and engineering—like a monster born out of the Universe’s laws.

And the sun was the source of all that was bright. It looked distant and warm. It passed through the void and the machine, tainting the picture with a faint layer of golden luster.