Laura Thompson's POV (Present Year: 2023)

Why?

Why can't we just be left alone to complete our training?

Why are people so obsessed over what we're doing?

Why can't they just mind their own business?

With a sigh, I roll onto my side, glancing at the clock beside my bed.

5:30 AM.

"Only three hours of 'good' sleep. Cool," I mutter bitterly, heaving myself out of bed before I begin to stumble towards the pile of clothes I'd left on the floor yesterday morning.

I sure hope the Press doesn't show up today...

I'm not sure I could deal with nosy people at the moment.

Tugging on my Flightsuit, I sigh once more, glancing at my reflection in the small mirror on the wall.

Dark bags sit heavy under my eyes, my left eye is bloodshot and to top it all off, my hair is an absolute mess.

"Whatever," I grumble, grabbing a hair elastic from the pocket on my arm, throwing my hair up into something that vaguely resembles a bun of sorts.

Lacing up my boots, I double check my pockets, the weight of my ID badge and lanyard evident.

"Alright, next up; schedule for today." I murmur, heading out into the much colder hallway, shivering slightly as the door closes behind me with a soft click.

I wonder if Elon is up...

Maybe we can talk about everything going on...

Because it's definitely all too much for my head.

Sighing once more, I round the corner into the Common Area, inwardly smiling slightly as my tired gaze rests on a familiar blue jumpsuit clad figure sitting idly at the dining room table, head buried in a fairly thick looking novel.

"Good morning, Sweet... Oh?" Elon trails off, his eyes suddenly focused on me and not the book he had been focused on seconds ago as I flop onto the couch with a yawn.

"Yeah, I know. I'm a mess," I chuckle, lazily throwing him a thumbs up as I rest my head back on the couch cushions, my thoughts almost instantly tackling me down once more.

I'm absolutely exhausted...

How can he just keep going like that?

Heck, it's 6 in the morning and he's already reading a freaking novel!

I swear he has super powers or something...

"Actually, I was going to say you look stunning today, but you don't appear to be all with it here..." My Partner hums, taking a seat beside me as I pull myself to a sitting position, fighting away the fatigue. "Are your thoughts being a bother?"

I can only nod, my head finding it's resting spot against his shoulder.

"Well, Love," He starts once more, his voice barely a whisper as the feeling of his fingers running though my hair resonate with me, giving me goosebumps. "I can assure you that when the Press does indeed come looking for us, I won't drag you into anything you don't want to deal with."

A smile tugs at my lips.

"Thank you," I murmur softly, tracing random circles on the back of his hand.

The man beside me shifts slightly, and before I can even react, the feeling of his arms around me, pulling me closer to his chest, causes me to gasp in surprise.

"Sorry," He breathes, hands still playing with my hair as my head finds it's way to the crook of his neck. "I just figured a hug might help you."

I can't help but laugh, a light blush dusting my cheeks.

"You just sounded, like, four years old, when you said that," I grin as we untangle from the embrace.

My boyfriend just smirks goofily.

"Did it help?"

"The hug?" I question, still a hint of humor in my tone. "Yes, it did."

"That's all that matters, then."

A light silence falls between us momentarily before I break it.

"What are you reading?" I inquire, genuinely curious.

"Currently, just some cheesy sci-fi novel I found laying around. Figured I'd at least give it a chance," Elon replies, his lopsided grin still gracing his features.

"Currently?" I hum, snuggling closer to his side once more as the air conditioner kicks on, sending a chill through me. "I take it you read lots, then?"

"Whenever I have time," He smiles, throwing an arm around me before frowning slightly. "Though I guess it's not often I 'have time.' I just have to make the time."

"You are pretty darn good at just making time somehow magically appear."

He lets out a breathy chuckle.

"I guess you could say that."

"How do you do it, though?" I sigh as he suddenly makes his way to his feet, leaving my side. "Continue to stay focused on the many tasks at hand, even with external Media parties constantly waiting for you to stumble, just so they can question you some more? How do you just keep pushing forward?"

Now it's his turn to sigh as he turns to face me, a weary smile on his lips.

"I just do," Elon nods, his voice suddenly trailing off. "I just have to."

A pang of understanding pulls at my heart as I leave the couch behind, walking up to his now still form and gently grasping his hands in mine.

"Why do you have to, Elon?" I murmur, emphasizing the 'have' as his gaze lowers to meet my own.

His eyes are full of such confusion and uncertainty...

Yet, at the same time, a sort of determination.

"I'm afraid that if I ever were to stop working..." The man in front of me sighs, his grip tightening in mine. "I wouldn't really know what to do with myself."

I nod silently, mulling things over as I allow my hands to drift back to my side.

"It's an unknown you're afraid to face," I hum.

Elon only nods slightly in agreeance, his expressions shifting so rapidly, it's difficult to judge just exactly how he's feeling.

"How'd you manage to shift the conversation to focus on me?" He muses aloud, a light chuckle following.

"Hey, I wasn't the one who allowed the conversation to flow," I protest, an air of humor in my tone before it turns serious once more. "Thank you."

Confusion clearly marks his features.

"I'm sorry?"

"For being open with me," I smile warmly. "You're getting better and better at it every time we talk."

"Is that so?" My Partner hums, taking my hand in his, guiding us out of the Common Area.

"It is," I reply as our cadences synchronize as per normal, our booted footsteps echoing in the quiet hallway. "And that's a good thing, E."

He smiles down at me.

"I guess it is," He murmurs as we step into the warm Houston air, beginning on our usual morning route.

A comfortable silence falls between us as we continue on, our gazes skimming over the various buildings and other things around the Complex, lost in our own little worlds of thought.

"Did you check the training schedule?" I muse aloud, alarm abruptly blazing through me, though it's hardly warranted as the man beside me just chuckles.

"Forgetful today, are we?" Elon teases as I playfully nudge him in the side.

"Just answer the question," I laugh, a grin not leaving my features.

"We have the first VR sim today," He explains, a evident excitement in his tone. "It's either gonna be a Martian EVA or a Rover EVA."

"Both incredibly awesome!" I cheer as our gazes meet once more, a shared look of enthusiasm on both our features.

My grin doesn't fade as we continue onward, my sour mood from this morning practically dried up and well on it's way to being completely gone.

It's amazing how happy one singular person can make you feel.

"Elon?" I start tentatively, a bought of awkward emotions coming over me as I glance upwards at my boyfriend beside me.

"Hm?" He hums in response, his gaze wandering down to me once again.

"I love you," I blurt out, embarrassment rushing to meet me as I feel my face begin to heat up.

Though, without missing a beat, he genuinely replies;

"I love you too, Laura."

Needless to say, the rest of our walk may have been a tad bit awkward...

Well, for me, anyways.

It seems I'm practically always a blushing mess.

****

"Alright!" Jason, our Instructor, exclaims as we enter the fairly small room that had taken quite a bit longer than expected to find. "Morning, guys!"

"Morning!" I laugh, followed closely by a light chuckle from Elon behind me.

"This room isn't marked as well as it could be," He informs, his usual tone of humor quite evident as he joins me at my side.

"Yeah," Our Instructor sighs, gesturing to the now closed door we had just came through, his gaze meeting my Partner's. "I should've mentioned it would be tricky to find, but I haven't seen either of you in awhile..."

Jason's now rather apologetic gaze lands on me.

"I heard about your incident in the NBL..." He trails off, looking for something else to say. "I'm sorry you had to go through that... It must've been nerve-wracking."

I simply nod, the drifty foggy memory of unconsciousness nagging at my brain.

"Y-yeah..." I stammer, blinking a few times to root myself back to the present. "Thankfully I passed out on the way up. It likely would've been worse if I hadn't have."

The older man in front of us grimaces slightly before yet another smile forms on his features.

"Well, everyone's okay, right? That's all that matters!" He cheers, ushering us towards the lone table in the room. "Let's get started, hm?"

Various devices that appear to be goggles, gloves and other things, litter the table in front of us.

"What exactly are we training for today, Jason?" Elon inquires, picking up a pair of VR goggles and examining them closely while our Instructor scrambles about, setting everything up.

"Whatever you two want," He grins, turning away from the computer he had been booting up a second ago to face us. "I've got Rover training and EVA training up and ready."

"Is there not a session which incorporates both aspects?" I muse aloud, glancing at my Flight Partner who nods silently, seeming to have been thinking the same thing.

"T-there is," He stammers, caught off guard. "Though I hear it's fairly difficult."

I can't help but chuckle.

"I'm sure it's nothing we can't handle," I grin, glancing at the man beside me once more.

He just throws me one of his oh so brilliant smiles.

"It would be interesting to see how we react to the VR environment without much experience," Elon adds, curiosity laced in his tone as the goggles he had been holding are gently placed back where they belong. "Can you pull it up?"

"Sure!" Comes the reply, before he continues. "Now, as that's loading up, I'm gonna need yous to work with me on getting everything set up on this end..."

Silently, I watch as Jason picks up a pair of goggles, accompanied by two hand-held sensors, before he passes them onto me.

I stare back at him quizzically.

"You're gonna have to help me out here," I explain, chuckling softly. "Can't say I've done anything like this before."

"Ah, yes, right," The Instructor murmurs, handing my Partner his items before once more turning back to me. "You're goin' to put this here over your head and over your eyes..."

Following his instruction, I slip on the rather overweight box on the end of an elastic over my head and down over my eyes.

It's pitch black.

"...Like so! And then these here are your hand sensors. If you don't mind just opening both your hands for me..."

Once again, I do as suggested and I feel two rather lightweight objects placed in my hands.

The space surrounding me goes silent, other than the sounds of Elon gearing up beside me and Jason click-clacking against the keyboard.

"Why do I have a feeling this is going to be super trippy?" I joke, earning a light laugh from both men in the room.

"I was thinking the same thing," My Partner replies.

Abruptly, the image in front of my eyes changes.

It's what I assume to be surface images of Mars, taken by whatever Rover last was in contact with NASA.

"Woah..." I breathe, turning my head slightly, the image following my movements.

"Pretty neat, isn't it?" The Instructor's voice muses aloud before he continues. "Now, in about twenty seconds here, the simulation will start. Everything in this sim has been 3D rendered and modeled to the best of our ability to match as closely as possible to what yous'll be working with up on the surface."

"What's the catch?" Elon asks, his voice comforting me in ways I didn't even know existed.

"There are a few bugs in the system. Nothing too major to really throw the entire simulation off, but just some things that don't necessarily make sense."

"Bugs, huh?"

"That is what I said..."

"You might want to hire pest control."

I inwardly cringe as I shake my head, regretting it instantly as the scene in front of me moves with me, throwing me off balance momentarily.

"That was so funny I forgot to laugh," I tease, regaining my footing once more as a smirk tugs at my lips.

"I was just trying to lighten things up!" The man beside me protests. "Though, I will admit, it wasn't my best one."

"Thompson, Musk," Jason interrupts, an air of humor in his tone. "The simulation begins in five seconds."

"Yeah, we're working. Right." I murmur, focusing once more on the red colored soil in front of me, along with the matching colored sky.

Soon enough, I'll be here for real.

My head aches at the thought.

Crazy.

The image in front of me shifts to, like Jason explained, a much more fake looking area, which I assume is some sort of airlock?

"The simulation starts off in the airlock of what yous'll be using, Starship. Your objective is to get to the Rover parked outside and then continue onward to Olympus Mons. In reality, it's a two plus day journey, however, for learning purposes, we cut down on that time," Jason explains as I cast my VR gaze around the area, looking for the way outside.

Luckily for me, space fairing vessels have to have everything clearly marked, so the exit is surrounded by a bright yellow boarder.

Not to mention the massive block letters that spell out 'EXIT.'

"Alright. Let's do this," I grin, facing the faceless EVA clad virtual character of my Partner, who's standing in the room idly.

"Hopefully we don't end up flipped over in a Crater somewhere along the way," Elon laughs as I extend my hand outward towards the open icon in front of me.

"Hopefully not."

Before we know it, we're out of the airlock and onto the 3D rendered Martian surface, making our way towards the Rover with ease.

As the large silver object comes nearer to us, a wave of recognition washes over me.

"Elon," I start, clicking the small button on the back of the sensor in my right hand, pinging the Rover in front of us. "Why does that look eerily familiar to Cybertruck?"

"Ah! You noticed that, did you?" I hear Jason's voice laugh in the real-world before everything goes quiet once again.

"Elon?" I repeat again as I reach the side of the Rover, examining the rather poor render closely.

My hunch is correct.

It's gotta be.

"Because it is Cybertruck," My Partner agrees, disbelief in his tone. "I'd almost forgotten we're taking one with us."

"But how will that-"

"Focus on the task at hand," Our Instructor urges from outside the sim.

"Right."

"We'll chat later," Elon promises as our virtual characters climb into the vehicle before speeding off over the barren landscape of Amazonis Planitia, heading towards the towering Olympus Mons with Starship in our wake.

****

"Alright... Sample time..." I murmur aloud as Mars' largest volcano towers above us. "I'll do dirt, you do rock?"

"Sounds fine to me," My Partner replies, his virtual character wandering away from me slightly, beginning the hunt for any small rocks that could have volcanic properties.

Nodding to myself, I begin to rummage around the small toolbox that had somehow magically appeared beside me, digging out the sample containers and extraction supplies.

"This patch of dirt hasn't been touched yet..." I hum, my gaze wandering the virtual horizon.

The sky is slowly turning from it's usual reddish tinge to blue.

Meaning it's getting dark.

They put enough effort into the sim to add a day cycle, yet they couldn't fix the few bugs Jason mentioned earlier.

Speaking of the bugs, the only minor glitch I've seen is just the landscape itself.

It's patchy and occasionally freaks out like an old school video game, but other than that the program has ran smoothly.

Abruptly, the sharp sound of the room's phone ringing from outside the simulation startles me before I instinctively begin to walk towards the sound's source.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Jason yelps, the sound of his now hurried footfalls reaching me as I'm stopped in my tracks, the feeling of hands being gently placed on my shoulders resonating with me. "Focus on the simulation, I'll get the phone."

"Right..." I chuckle, attention quickly zoning back in on the virtual Martian dirt I had just managed to spill everywhere. "Guess I'll just try this again."

A blanket of silence surrounds the room once more, the only sound keeping Elon and I company being our Instructor's distant chatter and the hum of the A/C.

"Find any trace of volcanic rock?"

"Not really," Comes his reply, sounding rather confused. "For being a volcano and all, there don't seem to be many appropriate rocks around."

"It's likley just a glitch in the program," I mutter, scooping up the dirt and carefully putting it into it's sample container. "I'm sure we'll have an easier time on the actual surface."

"You're right. And there's always the chain of three volcanoes at Tharsis Montes."

"True. But that'd be a long haul. We'd have to stop to charge the Rover's battery for at least half a day..." I counter, trailing off as the sound of Jason hanging up the phone fills my ears.

"You two are needed at the head office," He explains, clicking a few keys on his keyboard as the image in front of my eyes instantly vanishes.

Confusion floods my brain as I carefully pry off the goggles I've been wearing for the last few hours, cradling them in my arms as my eyes adjust to the light of the real-world.

"How come?" I inquire as the older man in front of us frowns.

"Seems some Media folks got a hold of your whereabouts, Elon," He nods, eyeing us both over as we hand him back the VR equipment. "My guess is they just want to talk. Likely figure out why you've been MIA for as long as you have been."

Glancing at the man beside me, I watch as he nods slowly, almost as if he's already pondering over what he's going to say to these nosy Journalists.

Which, he most likely is.

"Well, we better be going then," Elon sighs, turning to me with a small smile.

I only manage a weak half-smile.

My stomach is already tied in knots, my palms are beginning to sweat, and frankly, I feel as if I could pass out.

I feel a hand gently being placed on my shoulder, my entire body suddenly running on autopilot as I'm guided out of the room and into the hallway.

They're gonna know.

They've seen the pictures.

They've heard the speculation.

And really, what other way can a person decipher those photos as?!

We we're on our first date!

It's practically glaringly obvious!

"They're gonna know," I murmur, the feeling of the pressure on my shoulder vanishing, only to be replaced by one in my hand seconds later. "The Press has seen those photos. They're going to demand answers..."

Elon stops dead in his tracks, turning to face me with a rather stern expression on his features, the warm Texas sunshine beaming in the front windows of the building's small foyer.

"Breathe, Lori..." He urges, his voice full of such genuine compassion it sends my heart into a tizzy. "What did I tell you earlier about the Press?"

I sigh, my gaze falling from his to the ground.

"That you won't drag me into anything I don't want to deal with," I murmur, the knots in my stomach loosening ever so slightly. "But we have to deal with it, E. I have to deal with it."

I sense the man in front of me stiffen as he softly grabs my chin, forcing my gaze to meet his.

"Don't look at the floor, Love. I'm far more interesting," He jokes before turning serious once more, his voice barely above a whisper. "I'm sorry for all of this. If I had never taken you out, the pictures would've never been taken and then none of this-"

I silence him, pressing a finger gently to his lips.

"Would've happened, I know," I finish for him. "But it was going to happen regardless. So lets focus on the present and not the past, okay?"

He nods slowly, his expression turning thoughtful once again.

"They're going to ask about the photos..." He mutters, mind likely racing a mile a minute. "They have valid reason to believe we're a couple..."

"Which we are," I grin, beginning to make my way outside, my Partner hot on my heels.

"Right," Elon beams back, continuing. "But to them, it's all a rumor. We can deny it until we want to make it official."

"Which is when?" I muse aloud, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"Whenever we feel it's right," Comes the reply as our cadences sync up as per normal again. "Likely whenever it quiets down a bit around here. What do you think?"

I shrug.

"Sounds fine to me."

"We'll do that then," He nods as the Head Office building comes into our line of sight.

And much to our chagrin, the entire building is swarmed by every Media outlet imaginable.

"Well, I wasn't expecting this," I hum, wide-eyed, as I allow myself to drift closer to my boyfriend's side, focusing solely on the task of walking, now.

Elon just huffs in amusement.

"What?"

"It just looks like a lot. There isn't actually that many News Outlets here, just lots of people."

"Gotcha," I hum as we make our way inside the back of the building, going unnoticed for now.

The secretaries and other front desk staff greet us with enthusiasm, informing us of the Media's numerous questions and how they just "appeared out of nowhere," as the one woman put it.

The front of the office is glass, much like every other entrance at JSC.

Reporters are lined up behind the line that a few Security personnel are holding, leaving a rather small space for anyone on the opposite side to stand.

"They just want answers, Mr. Musk," The older of the two secretaries croaks, smiling at us wearily.

"And answers they shall receive," My Partner nods, flashing me yet another one of his smiles. "Feeling up to join me, or no?"

A lump begins to rise in my throat as my gaze wanders from Elon and out to the numerous people, all armed with notepads, cameras and microphones.

I can't go out there!

What do I say?

I'll just be a stuttering mess!

"It's entirely up to you," He urges, tone soft. "I won't drag you into this, remember?"

I nod mutely, attempting to squash the surge of anxiety attempting to flood me.

"I-I'll come with you," I murmur, my likely panicked gaze meeting his rather calm one.

"Alright!" My Partner cheers with such a sudden enthusiasm, it catches me off guard.

He's probably trying to psych himself up.

Shake away the nerves.

I watch through a somewhat lidded gaze as Elon strides towards the front doors, motioning for me to come forward as well.

Running on autopilot once again, I do so, coming to his side as we both push open the double glass doors, opening ourselves to the overly curious people on the other side.

Almost instantly, flashes of light begin to surround us, accompanied by many voices all practically shouting out incomprehensible things that are supposed to be questions.

This is how the Media gets their answers?

So uncivilized.

"Elon! Mr. Musk!"

The noise continues to climb, the camera flashes becoming more frequent.

And so the questioning begins.