HERMES – ARES 3 Mission Day 230

Although the Hermes team members thought about it day and night, they could not all come to the bridge during the radio test because of their work responsibilities and experimental tasks. Vogel is studying his ores, and Baker is responsible for monitoring the plants that originally belonged to Watney and the life support system of Hermes. Lewis collected three kilograms of Mars surface samples in advance and packed these materials into the MAV before the mission was aborted.

So when it was scheduled to be used for the first communication test using the alien spacecraft radio, the only people on the bridge who were still awake on duty were Martinez and Johnson. Johansen has installed software that allows Hermes' communications system to recognize analog audio radio transmissions and convert them into a form that computers can process. Now she switched the working mode of the high-gain antenna from digital to analog, looked at the workstation screen in front of her, and waited for a certain signal to appear.

Under normal circumstances, this current approach is a direct violation of flight regulations. Hermes should ensure that its high-gain antenna is always pointed toward the Earth in order to receive signals and transmit telemetry data unhindered. However, when NASA realized that the emission intensity of the low-gain antenna carried by Hermes was many times greater than the aging high-gain antenna on Pathfinder, the regulations had to be changed. In the end, they were forced to decide to use Hermes as a communication relay, receiving the signal sent by the Pathfinder through a high-gain antenna, processing it briefly, and then using a low-gain antenna to forward it to the earth. Since then, the high- and low-gain antennas have almost completely switched locations, pointing in the opposite direction as mandated by mission regulations.

"The high-gain antenna is tuned to 86.8 MHz," Johnson reported, "waiting to receive a signal." But even if the signal was sent on time, it would still take six minutes to reach here from Mars.

"By the way," Martinez said, "which one is your favorite?"

"What?" Johnson seemed confused.

"Which alien is your favorite?" Martinez asked again. "You must have read the reports about them."

“We can’t tell,” Johnson replied, “We only have their photos, the mission summary and the history of the space program, Mark’s diary, and the conversation records of Dragonfly in the Pathfinder chat room. We haven’t gotten to know them very well yet, have we?”

"My favorite is Fire," Martinez said.

"Are you serious? Not Cherry Berry?" Johnson asked. "I thought you were more likely to choose the experienced expert than the rookie pilot."

"Spike is not a rookie." Martinez replied, "She is the commander of the 'Magical Lightning' flying team in their world. If I understand correctly, it is probably similar to our 'Thunderbirds' and A hybrid of the 'Blue Angels' flight team. Actually, it's more like the 'Blue Angels', because they are also a key part of the astronauts' recovery training. This means that she is the best among their pilots - and these She did it with those little wings!" Martinez muttered with starry eyes, "Wow, if only I had wings like that."

"That's it," Johnson said.

"Of course," a smile gradually appeared on Martinez's face, "if I have wings, then my wife must also have wings. Then we can live happily on the clouds! I guess lying on the The feeling on the cloud will probably be similar to that of an air mattress or water bed!”

"Rick, don't go too far. I'm not interested in this kind of thing." Johnson warned.

"Okay, okay," Martinez muttered, "But I don't just prefer Spitfire because of her qualifications. Look at her face in the photo. That alien exudes confidence. I I do believe that Cherry Berry is the best rocket operator among the aliens, but she looks..." He looked helpless, as if he couldn't bear to express his final conclusion, "...a bit silly."

"Emmm..."

"And Baker," Martinez continued, "Baker prefers Star Glimmer. But you know, he always thinks pilots like me are crazy. He likes scientists."

"Did you ask this question to everyone?" Johnson asked.

"That's right. Believe it or not, Vogel is a huge fan. He says she always makes him laugh."

"Really?" Johnson immediately turned around in his seat to face Martinez, "Did Vogel really say that?"

"After all, he is an enigmatic German." Martinez smiled, "Why don't you guess who Lewis likes?"

"Cherryberry, it couldn't be more obvious."

"Wrong. Guess again."

"Uh... Spitfire?"

"No! She actually likes fireballs."

Johnson's face was full of confusion, and his expression became a little distorted. "Fireball?" she asked. "Why? Both Dragonfly and Starlight use the same word when referring to his characteristics: 'grumpy.'"

"She said she was going to learn to draw when she got back to Earth," Martinez said, "so she could draw him on a van."

Johnson glared at Martinez and said, "You're fucking kidding me."

"Right," Martinez chuckled.

Johnson shook his head and turned back to the workbench: "The signal should be received in about twenty seconds from now."

"Great. Start praying." The smile on Martinez's face gradually faded, and his body leaned forward slightly.

Soon the time came, but nothing happened. For about a minute, Martinez and Johnson waited quietly with the white noise coming from the speakers on the bridge.

Then a voice as thin as a gossamer came out: "...Hermes, this is the Friendship. Hermes, this is the Friendship. It is broadcasting on the 86.8 MHz frequency band. Communication check, please reply if you hear it. Hermes, this is the Friendship. Friendship, is broadcasting on the 86.8 MHz frequency band. Communication check, please reply if you hear it."

"It's Mark." Martinez gasped.

Then a second voice came in, and the noise in the background was even louder than before: "Hairmeez, the Friendship of Zeris. Hairmeez, the Friendship of Zeris. I was broadcasting on 86.8 Noise. Communications. Check it out, please reply if you hear it. Zeli hissing dragonfly."

Finally, a third voice appeared, clearer and firmer than the previous two, but still mixed with a lot of noise and very weak: "Hairmes, this is the commander of the Friendship. We are broadcasting on 86.8. Please resume. ?Reply. Comms check, please reply if you hear. Repeat. This is Commander Friendship. Hairmes, this is Friendship, comms check. Over.”

After a pause, Mark's voice came back: "Uh, that's right, guys, I taught her what 'actual' means. They want to get involved too. If we fail to receive a reply signal, we will try broadcasting again at 10:30 local time. Then we will switch to 92.2 MHz to send the second round of signals. Uh, done."

Martinez laughed again, but this time it was completely different from his usual hearty laughter, and even almost choked: "Mark, damn it, you really haven't changed at all."

Johansen adjusted her breathing, turned on her microphone and replied: "Friendship, this is Hermes. The signal quality is medium to low, the voice is clear but weak. Can you find a way to increase the transmission gain? We also received the Dragonfly and Friendship Message from the Commander. Good to hear your voices. Over."

After finishing, the two men still sat quietly on the bridge, waiting for the twelve minutes of long signal turnaround time to pass by one by one.

AMICITAS Mission Three – Mission Day 102

ARES 3 solar day 103

[15:25] JPL: Hello, Dragonfly. I'm Erin Shields. I am a Ph.D. who studies consciousness. As we say here, he is a "psychologist". Did Mark ever tell you why I wanted to talk to you?

[15:39] Watney: This is Dragonfly. Yes, he told me about it. He also said that while we were having this conversation, he would turn off all the computers in the Hab. I'm in rover number two now. I didn't know this word before, but we also have psychologists there. They have (look up the word) workbench.

[15:53] JPL: Okay. To us, a person who can sense the emotions of others is called an empath. Fictional stories aside, you are the first true empath we have ever met. Also, can you read minds? (Mind reading is commonly known as telepathy.)

[16:11] Watney: Sometimes I can guess what other people are thinking, but I don’t know for sure. I only taste emotions rather than thoughts and do not include the actual thoughts in my head.

[16:25] JPL: Okay. I believe you will tell me the truth. For psychologists, trust is very important. It is extremely difficult to obtain and extremely easy to lose. Please don't lie to me if you feel like you can't tell me the truth about something. Just tell me that it's not convenient for you to talk now. Can you do this?

[16:40] Watney: It can be done. I can understand trust. My job was to hide among ponies and snatch love to feed on. Trust was very important at that time. Now in space it's even becoming more important.

[16:54] JPL: Yes. Dr. Kapol's previous behavior may have caused damage to the trust among members of your team. Strong trust is a top priority. How much do your teammates know about your ability to sense emotions?

[17:18] Watney: They all know. All bug horses have this ability. This bothers them, but it doesn't really matter

[17:20] Watney: Change.

[17:35] JPL: Dragonfly, did something happen? Please be sure to inform your group members. We couldn't get Mark a psychologist. I can't be here on call either, because I have more important things to do. But I will send you my email address. NASA has prepared an email address for each of you. Mark will teach you how to use it. If you have something you want to tell someone that needs to be kept confidential, then you can just email me. No one else can see it but me. I promise you that. Please also inform other people, including Mark, about this matter.

[17:48] Watney: Nothing happened. I'll tell them.

[18:01] JPL: Also, I would really appreciate it if each of you could drop me an email and talk about how you feel. You can hold back on anything you feel hesitant to say. Just talk to me about something you'd like to share.

[18:05] Watney: I'll tell them. Do you have any other questions for me?

[18:18] JPL: Let’s chat via email, it’s more private that way. It's almost time now, Tingting, thank you for your cooperation and wish you a good night.

[18:24] Watney: Good night, Erin. Tingting finished the call.

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