by Sean Clark
“I wish I could be there to see it happen.” Cecil sighs.
“Will you be sad to see Maria go, as well?” Agrippa finally turns to him.
“I’ll be sad to see everyone go. I know Nik and Cyrus want to go home to their families… grandchildren, and girlfriend and all that.” Cecil spots Galen heading into the cryo station, and he waves. Galen halfheartedly returns the gesture. “I’ll even miss Galen. He’s not that a bad of a guy. Don’t let him get to you while you’re stuck up there, just the two of you.”
“I have thick skin.” Agrippa nudges Cecil with his fist. “I think it’s time for you to get busy. They’re going to kick everyone out soon to get that ship out on the launch pad anyways.” Agrippa stands up, making eye contact with Cecil. “Last time when you were in my place, I didn’t get a proper chance to say goodbye. So… I feel like I should say it now; Goodbye my friend.”
Cecil drops his eyes, tears starting to form. The flashing light starts to strobe, appearing at all corners of the room. Cecil grabbed Agrippa’s outstretched hand, shaking it tightly. Quickly turning, Cecil exits the hangar and in the direction of station control.
Arriving outside of the doors, Cecil rubs his eyes and entered. Cassius turns around slightly to look at him, barely making eye contact. “There’s a message for you. Are you ready?”
“I don’t know if I’m ready or not, but I definitely know what I need to say.”
Cecil takes a seat by one of the side banks of computers. A fancy camera had been mounted above him, staring him down. Clicking through the interface, Cecil pulls up the inbox, opening the received video message.
Alika’s face pops up, stuttering for a moment before it starts playing fluidly on screen.
“Hi Cecil. Long time no see. I’ve received all of your messages, and I agree with you one hundred percent. I’ve been doing my own research too since you’ve left. There’s just… so much. However, I think yours is the face that we should be giving to this program, to let people know. After all, you probably know better than anyone. Anyways, whenever you’re ready, go ahead and send it my way. I’ll make sure it goes to the right place.”
Cecil pauses the video before it can start playing again. The window shoots down into the corner of the screen as he minimizes it. Cecil hovers his mouse over the big red recording icon on the window below, seemingly calling out to him.
Taking a deep breath and clearing his throat, Cecil clicks the button, and peers up at the shiny lens of the camera.
“Hello, Earth. My name is Cecil Ruiz, and I am a Martian…”
The End
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