tushanshu | Voice:

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Uh, hey. This is Mark Watney again.

I was thinking about something and considering the circumstances, it's probably not anywhere near important, but I was thinking about time. Earth time, to be specific... not sols or anything involving that temperamental red jerk that Mars is.

(He pauses.)

Okay, to be very specific...because not all of us are from the same place, yet alone the same damn version of Earth...

In any case, you know, if we're going by the passage of time here... I'm another year older today. I think.

(Pausing again.)

You know what, let's just go with it. I didn't get a real birthday minus the crew singing at me the last go around.

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Seriously? That's awesome. You going to have a party?

A party?

(Right, right. He can do that here, can't he?)

I didn't think that far ahead actually. Don't really know anyone here that well to think they would want to come and hang out with a stranger. (He grins.) Now, if I get back to Earth in one piece...I'm sure everyone and their aunt will show up even uninvited.

[Danny shrugs. ]

I bet you could at least get a birthday cake somewhere. Not many of those on Mars, right?

Yeah, this place should have those around somewhere. They have a lot of other things.

(Mark can help but laugh.)

You are entirely correct, kid. There are not many there. Like none. Unless I make one out of a meal pack. And I'd rather have chocolate or something instead of sweet and sour chicken or meatloaf or something like that...

Also totally sure NASA would deny a request for birthday cake. Would say something like "we can only give you essentials, Watney"...

[Danny makes a face.]

Somebody seriously needs to revise their priorities. Cake is totally an essential.

You should have a party of some sort. I could volunteer to cook some.

A party? Well, I'm not exactly sure who would even show up for a complete stranger's party. Besides, the date kind of snuck up on me this time, but maybe I can try to pull something small off...

(He seems almost as if he's unsure but thinking and leaning towards going with the idea, but then she talks about volunteering.)

...Food. Food is always a good thing.

(Real food. Not potatoes or rations.)

A party would be nice. I could offer part of the shelter for a space, if you don't want to hold it at the hotel. I don't know what I could make, but it's been a while since I've cooked for a large group. I miss it.

(Wow. Ideas, a lot of ideas.)

I'm not exactly sure when I'll get a real chance to look into planning a party. I wonder if holding later than now would be okay. I, mean, planning a party isn't exactly like just meeting people for drinks and food. Or like family dinner out somewhere. But either of those places would work.

(The last time this nerd went to a birthday party was when he was in his last year of elementary school. That was his own at a botanical garden...

Wait.)

Wait, this place has gardens, right? What about having it at one of those? (It would give him a chance to see the plants that were on the turtle.)

I don't know what it would take to rent them out, but it would be a nice place.

[ She ponders for a minute. ]

We can still use the shelter kitchens to make the food. And whatever we don't eat comes back here?

I do not understand. Is the passage of time something to be celebrated?

What?

Well, uh...where I'm from it is. Though, it's kind of more about celebrating the person? I think. People just kind of generally do it and it's to have fun and be with friends and family.

Most of the time people really didn't do anything special besides be born. Though, being alive is something. (To him, anyway.)

I think I understand now, a little. Being alive is very important.

A little? Hey, that's a good thing! (He grins. A little bit is still something good. So he's going to be a mature adult, okay like a big brother when he says this next part.)

It is. Being alive is very important. Some would tell you the most important thing. You can't exactly do anything if you're not alive, at least far as I know.

A very happy birthday to you. I hope this one goes better than having your crew sing at you.

Uh, thanks. (He grins and rubs the back of his head.) Honestly, it was kind of funny, mostly sweet,...and painful. Ever listen to five other people sing at various speeds and various styles of music?

Yes, and this is precisely the reason I don't make my birthday common knowledge.

Regardless, I hope you have a good celebration this year.

Yeah, generally a good plan. It's kind of hard to avoid when your birthday becomes public knowledge, though. Also, the commander had everyone's everything to begin with.

(His face might be serious but this tone is so much shrug.)

Also, we had an amazing hacker in the crew. She would have found it if given the chance. Probably in five seconds. Just blinking. Fast.

That is not surprising, considering the leader of any operation would need to keep tabs on the people working with them.

[Klaus is, unfortunately, eternally and sincerely serious about everything]

That is quite a skilled hacker indeed, especially to be able to do so at the speed of sound.

[Was that a deadpan joke or is he just that literal? The world may never know.]

Birthdays are important, no matter the circumstances! Happy birthday, Mark.

So that was a very long version of saying it's your birthday?

Happy birthday.

What was all that about Mars?

Edited 2016-10-16 04:11 (UTC)

Long?

(A pause.) Okay, okay. You're fine. It was long.

Come on, cut me some slack here...I've been all alone on a planet and then when I finally got some form of communication that doesn't involve a little bit of text and waiting forever to hear back. Can't blame a guy for letting himself rant a bit.

Um, uh... I kind of got my ass stranded there. It's a crazy story.

Edited 2016-10-20 02:05 (UTC)

Wow, an astronaut.

How long were you stranded? How did you survive?

Why fuss, if it's close enough? It means less as you go.

Congratulations on surviving, my dear.

That's what my dad tells me. I don't know. After multiple near death experiences, I kind of have to disagree in some sense.

Uh, thanks. (He finds himself chuckling.) It'd definitely an accomplishment with all the really stupid things I had to do to get this far. Like play with rocket fuel. Dig up a decaying radioactive isotope and use it as a makeshift heater? Yep, I'm that guy.

Of course, if I'm being honest with my examples, there wasn't exactly any better and still plausible options.

The near death experiences also begin to mean less as you go.

[That is probably not actually meant to be reassuring, which is good, because it falls short.]

I'll admit I'm impressed by your determination, however.

Happy birthday! You should totally have a party, and it's totally important. Just getting sung at is not sufficient to celebrate a birthday.

[She's speaking very rapidly.]

I'm Pepper, by the way. You've been to Mars? What year is it on Earth for you? I'm from 2012; we've got some pretty advanced tech but we haven't gotten that far out yet.

Oh, hey. Nice to meet you. I'm Mark. And yep, actually got my ass stranded there before I somehow ended up here. Was working on making it long enough for the next mission to show up and rescue me.

It kind of has to be, well okay, that with emails and stuff like that from home, when you're in space. We weren't Star Trek advanced where I could just ask to be transported home for a day then right back once it was over. (Mark then grins and jokingly complaints.) Man, I bet you five bucks I would be the guy who gets stuck having to fix it, if they existed and we had 'em on the Hermes.

Of course, if that would have been the case then someone could have tried to beam me back once I got blown away or maybe even the guys back on Earth would have tried to get my body back that way, and then surprise, I'm alive and kind of in one piece...

(A pause.)

Oh, right. I'm from . So, a bit farther in time than you, but we're good but not nearly as good that birthday parties en route to Mars can be a thing. It'd be sweet if so. We're good enough to send highly trained people to a distant planet and theoretically not kill them in the process, though.

(Mark then shrugs.)

The crew and I kind of had a plan to have a huge party on Earth for all of our birthdays once we got back. They promised me beer, pizza, and cake with a lot of candles...those were the things we could all agree on.

Edited 2016-10-19 03:11 (UTC)

What, they couldn't pack a little freeze-dried cake along with the rest of your provisions? I mean, I get not having candles, flame on a space-ship is a big no-no, but not even one cake? It's a long trip.

[Pepper tilts her head a little, her smile turning more sympathetic than enthusiastic.]

You got stranded on Mars. That-- wow, that really, really sucks. [Alive and stranded was possible better than dead, though.] Well, I'm glad you got a bit of a vacation from the big red planet, at least. How are you liking the city?

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