Elon Musk's POV (Present Year: 2022)

I sigh heavily, running a hand through my hair.

Could things get any worse?

First, the Crew who was to undergo training for the first manned Mars mission completely backs out, last minute. Then, I'm told that our budgeting for the Starship program was completely inaccurate... And now... Now, we're practically out of money.

Needless to say, I'm pretty stressed out right now.

Alright, stressed was an understatement.

"Yes?" I question aloud as a light knock on the door to my office breaks me from my troublesome thoughts.

Behind the door is one of my assistant directors, a younger guy with so much intelligence, I am constantly reminding myself about the man's actual age.

"I figured I would let you know that it's almost ten pm." He nods, looking over what no doubt appeared to be my extremely messy workspace as well as my strained features. "I'm on my way out now... maybe you should do the same?"

I practically glare at the younger gentleman in front of me.

"There's too much on my mind to go home. There wouldn't be much point. I'll be fine here." I reply, my gaze softening slightly as I realize my assistant's suggestion was made out of pure concern for my well-being, not doubt about my capabilities.

"Alrighty then. I'll be sure to lock up on my way out. Have a good evening, Mr. Musk." My assistant sighs as he sharply turns on his heel and continues on his way, leaving me alone with my thoughts once more.

"You too." I muse aloud, my voice filling the emptiness around me.

Now what?

I need a Crew.

And that Crew needs to start their training ASAP.

"Who am I kidding? We have no funds to hire an external Crew." I mutter lowly, kicking myself away from my desk and towards the door, muttering. "I've got to clear my head."

Making my way to my feet, I stop myself momentarily, feeling a dull ache radiate through my entire body.

Damn press conferences. Nothing but standing for hours on end.

I shrug the pain away, continuing on my way out the door and into the now empty offices of the company I had basically raised and nurtured.

It's an odd feeling not being surrounded by the buzz of constant chatter... It's rare I ever get times to myself like this.

Sometimes I sit back and wonder how I made it to where I am now. It truly is surreal; looking around at what was once just an idea, a dream, that is now fleshed out and actually succeeding at what it was designed to do.

Sometimes, it all feels so fake. Made up. Just another crazy, ridiculous dream that's been made up in my head.

But, it's not. It's all real.

And unfortunately, when things are real, so are the difficulties.

Get your head out of the clouds, Musk. Focus on the issue at hand.

I sigh once again, dragging a hand down my face in a vain attempt to stay alert, stay awake, stay active in my thoughts.

"The budget will allow for Starship to be finished. We already have all the necessary training equipment already lined up and ready to go. Paid for. It comes down to just the Crew..."

I come to an abrupt halt, mid-stride, as I cast my gaze towards the ceiling.

The first successful Dragon capsule hangs there, above me.

A small smile finds it's way to my lips.

It's amazing what people can do when they decide to work towards a common goal.

"Wait a sec-" I muse aloud, cutting myself off as my thoughts begin to move a mile a minute.

I begin to pace back and fourth, my hands clasped behind my back.

"What's stopping us from making Starship specific Astronauts?" I ponder aloud, continuing my steady pacing. "Is that even legal? I mean, anything's legal nowadays if you sign all the right papers... But could that work?"

My thoughts still fly past me at Mach 1 as I run back the way I had previously came, a newfound excitement building within me.

This could work.

Practically jumping over my desk and sliding into my office chair, I begin to type out an email.

An email that only a few within the Company will receive.

The best of the best.

I grimace at the subject line I had just typed out.

It reads: 'URGENT. DO NOT DISCLOSE THIS INFORMATION.'

"All caps? Really?" I scold myself aloud, before chuckling softly. "I really need some sleep."

I decide to keep the caps lock subject line.

"It'll grab their attention." I reason with myself, continuing to type the rest of the email.

"Good evening everyone. I have come upon some rather troubling news that I do not feel comfortable sharing with you all over this method of communication..." I trail off as I type. Speaking things aloud always helps make better sense of things. "To compensate this, I am holding a mandatory emergency meeting at 6:30 AM tomorrow morning. Regarding the subject line; only a select few will be receiving this message. Please do not pass this information along. Thank you and see you all tomorrow."

I lean back in my chair, eyeing the text displayed on my screen wearily.

"It's not like I've got anything to lose." I mutter aloud. "We're going to Mars. And, just because I don't have a Crew yet means nothing."

I move the cursor over the small button marked 'SEND.'

Click it.

So I did.

****

Laura Thompson's POV (Present Year: 2022)

"5:50 already?" I groan, rolling over to silence the obnoxiously loud shrieking from beside my bed. "It feels like it should be midnight or something."

As the alarm's shrill tone slowly fades from my hearing, I lay in bed, simply staring at the ceiling.

Myer's accident report still needs to be filed... And that email...

My curiosity ignites itself, full flame, as I grab my phone from where it had been sitting beside me.

The notification is still on my home screen, even more vivid than last night.

I glance at the onscreen clock as well, suddenly realizing the time.

"I've gotta get dressed." I groan once more, throwing the covers off of myself and clambering out of bed. "I guess I'll read the email while I do that."

And so the struggle begins.

It's quite a predicament, really. Getting dressed with one hand, the other holding a phone and a person's attention focused on the constantly moving screen in front of themselves. Pretty darn difficult.

"I am holding a mandatory emergency meeting at 6:30 AM tomorrow morning." I read aloud, confusion settling within me.

This email was sent last night... So he must be talking about-

"That meeting is this morning! Ah boy." I mutter, pulling on my SpaceX jacket that was neatly hung on the back of my office chair. "I better get moving then."

I continue to read on.

"Only a select few will be receiving this message. Please do not pass this information along."

Wait? What?

I freeze, almost spilling piping hot water down the front of myself.

The CEO of SpaceX and Tesla has my name on some special list somewhere?

I shiver at the thought.

"That's not strange at all." I chuckle, a somewhat nervous tone in my voice as I watch the small Tassimo machine make my coffee.

First off, why am I even on Elon Musk's radar? If the Company is in trouble like he sorta said it is, why would he come to his employees? Why not just ask NASA for some help? Wouldn't that make sense?

I give my head a shake.

"I guess those questions will be answered at 6:30."

Speaking of 6:30...

I glance at the clock above the stove in my kitchenette.

It reads 6:15 AM.

"Oh boy." I yelp, slamming on the lid of my travel mug, grabbing a few snacks from the pantry and shoving them down into my bag. "Hopefully the traffic isn't bad."

The route to work includes crossing one street. A street which doesn't have a proper crosswalk. For some reason.

Needless to say, it can sometimes take a good solid five minutes to actually cross the stupid thing.

"Alright. Let's see what's going on at SpaceX today." I sigh, lacing up a pair of sneakers and throwing my lanyard around my neck.

And figure out why the heck I, of all people, am on Elon Musk's radar.

****

Thankfully, the walk to work hadn't been very busy.

In fact, I'm now almost five whole minutes early.

Yippee.

When I first walked into HQ, everything seemed off. Even worse than yesterday morning.

Even the security and secretarial folks were oddly silent.

Everyone just seemed extremely tense.

As I make my way towards the largest and most likely spot for a meeting of this importance to be held, I can't help but become nervous.

If things are super bad, maybe everyone on that email list is being laid off?

That thought just makes me feel absolutely horrible.

Rounding the corner towards the meeting room, I attempt to shove my rising queasiness down.

"You'll be fine." I mutter to myself. "Just stay calm."

And the fact that the CEO had called this meeting made me feel even worse. It's not like he was a bad guy, he was actually pretty nice, the few times I'd met him before. The whole thing just doesn't want to sit right with me.

Stopping in front of the meeting room door, I quickly scan my badge, the lock light turning red to green instantly, unlocking the door and allowing me to step inside the room.

A few people are already seated, in fact, there don't seem to be a whole lot of chairs... Not enough for the large majority of the staff at this facility...

I shake my head slightly, attempting to ward off any more thoughts.

My head needs to be clear so I can understand everything.

The room is tensely quiet.

No one speaks, almost as if they're afraid to do so.

It's strange.

For a bunch of usually chatty people, having such a quiet atmosphere causes my whole body to tense up.

Something is definitely not right here.

As I quietly take a seat somewhat towards the front of the room, a sudden soft voice from behind me causes me to nearly yelp aloud in surprise.

"I didn't know you'd be here."

I whirl around to face the source of the quiet voice.

The voice belongs to Vivian.

I sigh, cracking a small smile.

"I could say the same thing about you." I reply softly as she takes a seat next to me, shifting slightly so she could face me better.

"What do you think all this is about?" She questions, fear lacing her tone. "I sure hope we're not all getting laid off today."

I nod in agreeance as I roll over my wrist to check the time.

6:28 AM.

"Well, I guess we'll find out shortly." I mutter in reply as the sound of more people shuffling into the room perks up my ears.

Good. We're not completely alone in this.

"Good morning, everyone." A loud, sudden voice greets from the front of the room, my head instinctively snapping upright to make eye-contact with the voice's owner.

The voice belongs to none other than the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, Elon Musk.

"I thank you all for coming on such short notice."

He sounds absolutely exhausted... Stressed out too? 

"Now, I'm sure you all have many, many questions, and I assure you, I will get to them. However, to ease you all, I will promise you this." He stops, almost as if examining the room he was standing in front of. "None of you within these four walls are being laid off today."

Almost instantly, as if someone flipped a switch, the anxiety level in the room goes from one hundred percent to nearly nothing.

"In fact," The CEO continues, "It is quite the opposite."

Vivian and I exchange confused looks.

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" I mutter under my breath as the man addressing the room carries on.

"You see, late yesterday evening, I was notified of a detrimental budgeting error for the construction of the Starship program."

At this, a few gasps and groans arise from the crowd.

"I was also notified that the Crew who was supposed to be beginning preparation for 2024's manned mission to Mars are now otherwise engaged." Musk continues, a small tone of uncertainty making it's way into his tone.

"The reason I gathered you all here specifically is because you are the best of the best in each of your fields here at SpaceX. You all pour countless hours of hard work and dedication into each and every thing you do here each day, and for that, I can't thank you enough."

He pauses once more, reading the room again.

"So, we are presented with a problem. We now have no Crew to begin their standard, two year training for the 2024 Mars mission. The solution, however. I believe is an exciting and unique one."

Confusion begins to cloud my thoughts.

What is he trying to say?

"I am proposing that we create a Starship and Mars specific Crew. Right here at SpaceX, within the bunch of you all."

The room goes dead silent.

As the CEO spoke, the room had slowly been filled with murmurs and whispers, but now those are gone once again.

"It would need to be a Crew of four, as the other Crew was also that size." Musk continues on, trying to spark some interest other than dead silence.

Not a soul makes a sound.

"Alright then." He sighs lightly, sounding somewhat defeated and worn out. "I will give you all until the end of today to come to a decision. Please either report back to me directly or to one of my assistants with your final answer by closing tonight."

And with that, he quickly exits the room, leaving a confused and tired bunch of employees in his wake.

I however, begin to laugh like a person had just won the lottery.

"What's so funny?" Vivian asks from beside me, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Vivi." I breathe out in between fits of laughter. "Do you not realize what this means?"

Now she just looks even more confused than before.

"N... No? Am I supposed to?" She stammers, pure confusion written all over her features.

After a few moments of my continuous laughter, I begin to calm myself down, grabbing my friend's shoulders and shaking them gently, looking her right in the eyes. 

"You. Me." I breathe, still struggling to regain some oxygen in my lungs. "We could go to Mars!"