Laura Thompson's POV (Present Year: 2022)

"Well, I guess we'll be seeing you around then." Vivian smiles from where she's standing beside me, outside the main doors of the SpaceX HQ.

"I guess so." Our new found friend, Mark Myers nods, his hands in his pockets. "It was great meeting you both, even if things started off a bit... strange."

Vivian laughs.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that."

"Well, I better be going now. I'll see you later!" Mark continues, heading around the back side of the building, out of our view.

I turn to the woman beside me.

"Well? What do you say? Up to play a game of 'find the CEO?'" I joke, laughing lightly.

"Let's give it a try, at least."

I nod in agreeance.

"The worst thing that happens is that he already has four people. That'll suck, but at least we tried." I state, having an odd feeling of unease settling within me.

I'm sure everything is going to work out fine.

"Lori? You coming with?" Vivian's voice pulls me from my thoughts.

She's already at the front doors, waiting for me eagerly.

I sigh heavily.

I can't pass up this opportunity...

"Yep! Right behind you!" I call back, shaking my head as if to clear the sudden bombardment of thoughts from my mind.

****

"Do you even know where his office is in here? I've never heard anyone mention it before." Vivian asks, breaking the rather tense silence that had managed to fall over us as we make our way down the various hallways, heading in no particular direction.

"Honestly, I have no idea." I reply, our footfalls sounding in the same rhythm. "I do have a hunch, though."

She nods silently as we continue onward.

"My hunch is more like a hope, however." I chuckle lightly, the silence vanishing momentarily. "I sort of just hope we'll run into him along the way."

"You never know."

The pair of us continue to wander aimlessly, nodding silently to whoever we pass, neither of us really up for a chat with anyone else besides the man we're trying to track down.

However, as time wears on, the search begins to feel hopeless.

How difficult can it be track down one person! Who is in the same building!

"You know what?" I begin, just about ready to throw in the towel on this whole idea. "Why don't we just split up and-"

I feel a light tap on my shoulder.

"I win." Vivian smiles as I turn to face her voice, her arm raised and pointing down the hallway.

Indeed, she did win.

The man heading towards us both is indeed Elon Musk.

"Well, here comes the moment of truth." I sigh heavily, as the CEO's form comes closer to us.

I quickly do a double take of the rest of the stretch of hallway behind Musk, confusion settling within me.

He's alone?

Usually, he has an assistant or two nearby, but from what I can tell, no one else was following him.

The pair of us continue walking, meeting him halfway.

I smile as we near, hopefully signaling we'd like to chat.

He got the point.

"Ah. Ms. Thompson, Ms. Chang. How are you both doing?" Musk greets, his eyes flicking over both Vivian and I rather hurriedly.

How did he-

"We're great, Mr. Musk. We're wondering if you have a minute to chat?" I reply, dropping my tone slightly.

He's the one who didn't want us spreading that email around. If he doesn't-

"Of course!" He smiles, turning on his heel, heading back the way he had been coming from, moments ago.

Vivian and I exchange rather surprised glances, but nevertheless, we follow the man's lead.

The CEO leads us down through the rest of the office space and through the open floor manufacturing area, the sound of people chatting and working slowly fading.

People are leaving for the day.

Finally, we arrive at a door, shoved off to the side and out of anyone's way.

No wonder we couldn't find his office.

In one swift motion, Musk scans his own badge containing his credentials over the door's lock and the light goes from red, to green instantly.

Rather hurriedly, he ushers us inside the office and we all take our seats.

A sudden wave of uncomfortableness washes over me, however, I ignore it.

I'm far too preoccupied trying to read the situation at hand.

"So, I would assume you are both interested in joining the 2024 Mars crew?" Musk asks, running a hand through his hair before setting it back at his side.

He seems absolutely exhausted... He looks that way too.

Pure exhaustion is written all over the CEO's features; dark bags under his eyes, un-kept hair and that same tired smile he had greeted the room with during this morning's meeting...

"Definitely." I nod stiffly, shoving my thoughts aside and regaining my focus on the conversation at hand.

Stop looking him over! He's your highest boss around here!

I examine the room quickly, allowing my gaze to wander the walls, instead of the person in front of me.

Pictures of several launches, SpaceX or not, scatter the walls, framed and hung with precision.

There's Crew Dragon from 2020... Ooh! And Apollo 11! Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Moon!

I can't help but smile, my gaze returning back to the CEO.

"You certainly have quite a collection of memorabilia, Mr. Musk." I note, gesturing to Apollo 11 which is hanging beside where I'm seated.

He laughs lightly.

"Well, what did you expect?" He jokes, before continuing. "And please, just call me Elon."

I try not to appear taken aback by his words.

Woah. We're completely disregarding formalities already?

"Okay, Elon," I start, dragging his name out slightly, testing it.

It sounds strange, yet familiar... in a way.

"What's with the third chair here?"

"I was also going to ask the same thing." Vivian pipes up from beside me.

I jump slightly at the sound of her voice.

I'd almost forgotten she was here.

"I was hoping that would be for our third Crew member, however, he appears to be a no show."

Then, right as Elon finishes that sentence, there's a loud, rather frantic sounding knock at the door.

"Can I let them in?" Vivi asks, as the man behind the desk in front of us nods.

Vivian opens the door, and almost instantly, a head of dark curls pokes their way in.

"Sorry I'm late, Mr. Musk." A very familiar voice follows the curls and seconds later, the owner of both the voice and the hair is visible as the door shuts behind them.

As the new figure in the office turns to face us, I gasp in disbelief, as does my friend beside me.

"Mark?!" We both muse aloud in unison, surprise and shock written all over our features.

Mark looks equally as stunned.

"Vivian? Laura?" He exclaims, his look of shock quickly fading. "No way!"

Vivian laughs softly from beside me.

"Yes way." She smiles towards Mark, who had now filled the other empty seat in the room.

I, however, am still desperately trying to wrap my mind around this entire situation.

"No offense, Mark, but you're the last person I would've expected to walk through that door just now." The woman beside me continues on, trying to contain her laughter at the younger man's perplexed expression.

"Why do you say that..." Mark begins as I let their voices fade into the background, my thoughts becoming louder.

Well, now there are three of us.

But Musk made it sound like there were only ever planned to be three chairs here...

"Alright." I start, rather abruptly, the chatter in the room instantly fading.

I calmly fold by hands in my lap as I lift my head slightly to meet Elon's gaze which immediately locks with my own.

"Let's have the whole story." I demand, voice steely.

The man in front of me smirks slightly, though as soon as it was there, it was gone, replaced with his usual neutral expression.

"As you all heard this morning, there has been a detrimental budgeting error for the Starship program." The CEO begins, his gaze filtering over each person in the room, and then settling back on me.

"We will be able to complete her, however, the less essential pieces will not make the cut." He explains before continuing, "Consider this first mission to be a test flight, in a way."

From the corner of my eye, I watch Mark nod slowly, his expression a mix of things.

Things are probably beginning to make sense for him now, being the lead AvTech and all.

"I was also told yesterday that the original Crew NASA had lined up for us to make the first trip is now otherwise engaged with last minute work on their Artemis Program..." Musk continues, the same tone of uncertainty creeping it's way in from this morning. "Which is why I asked you all to consider becoming the first Crew for Mars 2024."

A silence hangs in the air slightly.

Everyone pondering over their own thoughts.

None of that explains where the fourth person is, though. And why there were only three chairs here in the first place?

"So, what exactly would a Crew be doing once on Mars?" Vivian asks from beside me, breaking me from my thoughts as she eyes the CEO rather warily.

"Once on Mars, the Crew would begin essential preparations for long-term habitability. Tasks such as beginning to develop the first outpost on the surface, examining other parts of the planet- from the polar ice caps to the canyons, running various experiments, collecting samples... The list goes on." Elon illustrates, an excitement rushing into his tone I've never heard before.

"And, how long will the training be for the Crew? The standard two years even though we're just civilians?" Mark chimes in, his brow creased in confusion.

"The standard two years, yes." Comes the reply. "Though preferably, if you all are ready to jump into this with both feet, training would begin as soon as next week."

"I still don't understand." I sigh, running a frustrated hand through my hair. "First off, how do we even know if we'll be ready to fly by the launch date? Sure, Starship may be done by then, but she needs a Crew that actually knows what they're doing to fly her if things go a-wal!"

Vivian puts a hand on my shoulder to calm me down.

I just yelled at the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla.

And I didn't even realize.

Realizing what just occurred, I shift back in my seat slightly, waiting for the now rather awkward silence to be inevitably broken.

"Your concerns make sense, Ms. Thompson." Musk nods, his gaze rather... sympathetic? Amused? "But I assure you, if you are willing to join this mission's Crew, you all will receive the best possible training in preparation for Mars."

I sigh once more, feeling my hopes begin to lift again.

"Well," I start, my eyes wandering over Mark and Vivian. "I didn't get this far to back out. I'm in."

Hearing this, Elon's gaze shifts from where he had been looking seconds ago, directly looking to me.

Almost instantly, my earlier worries and anxiety disappears, leaving me with only a rush of absolute joy.

"Glad to have you aboard, Ms. Thompson." He smiles broadly, extending his hand towards me.

"Thank you for the opportunity." I reply with a smile that practically matched his, grasping the hand firmly and shaking it, as if to seal the deal.

I turn to the other two people in the room.

"Well?" I muse aloud, as a grin slowly spreads across Vivian's features.

"Sure, why not. I'll go to Mars!" She cheers, turning to the man at the far side of the room who had suddenly gone quiet. "What about you, Mark?"

He puts his head in his hands.

"Oh, I don't know." He mutters, sitting up once more.

"Your skills would really benefit the entire Crew, son." Elon encourages as Mark sighs once more.

"Alright. I'm in."

At this, the CEO's smile broadens even more as he shakes both Vivian and Mark's hands, officially sealing the deal.

I feel incredibly happy.

Like I'd just won the lottery?

No, even happier than that.

"I still have one question, Mr. Musk," I muse aloud as an answer slowly begins to form in my headspace.

That can't be right. He wouldn't just get up and leave like that! Would he?

"Who's the fourth Crew member?"

Elon just smirks, raising a hand to point at himself.

You have got to be kidding me.