Scene 5

Ares Frontier Communications Hub, Houston. 02:14 CST.

ACTIVE ROSTER: 1,314

PROFILES SCHEDULED TODAY: 426

JOBS QUEUED: 481

BATCH 1142 INITIATED

JOB 1 OF 481 COLONIST: Ochoa, James R. RECIPIENT: Ochoa, Lily (daughter), Milwaukee, WI TYPE: Personal / Birthday

The video takes eleven seconds to generate. It shows a man sitting in a bunk, harsh light overhead, the curved wall of the habitat behind him. He’s holding a homemade greeting card. “Hey, birthday girl,” he says. “I know seven is a big deal. I wish I—” He stops. Starts again. “We’re building something here, Lily. Something wonderful. I can’t tell you about it just yet, but I can’t wait until we’re allowed to share it. Happy birthday, sweetie. Love you.”

GENERATING...

Duration 38s. Tagged. Queued for 7:02 AM CST.

JOB 2 OF 481 COLONIST: Vasquez, Alejandra M. RECIPIENT: Ares Frontier Media Archive TYPE: Status Update / Video Message

A woman who looks to be in her thirties gives the camera a tired smile. She talks about CO2 scrubber maintenance and makes a joke about the food.

GENERATING...

Duration 62s. Tagged. Queued for 10:41 AM CST.

JOB 3 OF 481 COLONIST: Park, David S. RECIPIENT: Park, Jiyeon (sister), Seoul TYPE: Personal / Text Exchange

hey yourself. look at this little guy!

Attached: IMG_4481.jpg—a cat sitting inside a shipping box

haha, better company than Reeves honestly

we switched over to the new water system today but it still tastes like the inside of a pipe. it’s fine. i’m on mars! wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

GENERATING...

Tagged. Queued for 9:18 AM CST.

When the last job finishes, the system closes out its log file.

481 OF 481 COMPLETE

BATCH 1142 COMPLETE 03:47 CST

INTEGRITY CHECK: PASSED

ACTIVE ROSTER: 1,314

NEXT BATCH: 02:14 CST +1

TIME SINCE LAST COLONY UPLINK: 441d 7h 1m 38s

STATUS: NOMINAL