Dead on Mars

Chapter 242: Sol Three Hundred and Forty-One, The Myth of Sisyphus

This was the antepenultimate sol before reaching their destination. The Mars Wanderer had stopped to recharge after traveling thirty kilometers. As usual, Tang Yue climbed to a high spot to look into the distance, but he saw nothing.

“There’s another thirty kilometers left.” Tang Yue looked up at the sky. The weather was turning increasingly gloomy. “But I still can’t see a thing.”

“It’s obvious that you can’t see anything at thirty kilometers. You still might not be able to see it at three kilometers.”

This long journey was finally coming to an end. No matter what kind of monsters were awaiting him, Tang Yue would have to face them.

They were getting closer to 88.2°E, 17.6°N. On a macroscale map, Tang Yue’s current location was practically plastered tightly to the destination. Every time Tomcat unfolded the map, Tang Yue would have the feeling that he had already arrived. However, Tomcat would wave its paw and point ahead, saying they had a few more sols to go.

Tang Yue sat on a rock, watching the sun slowly set in the west. He realized that he was beginning to enjoy dozing off. He often sat motionless in silence. Tomcat never disturbed him, imagining that he was contemplating something, but in fact, only Tang Yue knew that he was only dozing off. He would stare at the distant horizon or a rock for long periods of time, realizing that an entire afternoon had passed when he snapped back to his senses.

Oscar Wilde once said that this was a rare occurrence on Earth because most people were simply existing.

Tang Yue tapped his chest lightly.

The sandstorm is worsening.” Tomcat waved its paw, grabbing at the air. It couldn’t sense the flow of air since the thin atmosphere couldn’t even ruffle its fur. However, Tomcat could determine the wind speed based on the turbidness of the air. “It’s foreseeable that in a few days, the weather will continue worsening. I believe that it will be a very foggy day tomorrow.”

“Will it affect us?”

“Not by much. It’s the last thirty kilometers tomorrow. We need to charge the Wanderer fully today. Tomorrow, we will travel all the way to our destination without recharging,” Tomcat replied, “no matter how bad the weather is.”

“That also means that when we set off tomorrow morning, these solar panels will complete their historic mission?”

“Yes.” Tomcat nodded. “We don’t have to take them along tomorrow when we set off.”

“That won’t do.” Tang Yue said. “You still need solar panels when you return. Their historic mission isn’t over. When you stop needing them is when they finish their mission… Actually, I don’t think you need to return immediately.”

“What do you mean?”

“You can take the solar panels and tour Mars with the Wanderer,” Tang Yue replied. “If you still remember the landing locations of those probes, you can even visit them. Opportunity should still be Endeavour Crater.”

“Oh, I have no way of finding Oppy.” Tomcat spread its paws out. “She’s just too far away. She’s in the southern hemisphere while we’re in the northern hemisphere.”

“Oppy?”

“Short for Opportunity. Those people at NASA call her a young girl.”

“She’s probably an old granny now.”

Tang Yue returned to the geolab and had his dinner. The sky outside was already completely dark.

There weren’t any other illumination tools in the geolab. To save power, Tang Yue switched off all the lights and the only light source was the tiny solar emergency bulb. Placing it in the middle of the geolab, Tang Yue leaned against the wall and sat cross-legged. With the Radiant Armor on, he had no way of lying down to sleep normally. For the past few days, Tang Yue had been sleeping in a sitting position.

The hatch opened as Tomcat entered.

Every night, Tomcat would head out to stargaze until late into the night.

Occasionally, it would say that it could divine fortunes and misfortunes by observing the heavens. For example, it would say: “The lucky star rises from the southeast, producing the auspicious color of red. Twinkling for days, it’s a providential sign.”

Tang Yue would say, “Speak human.”

And Tomcat would reply, “A supernova happened.”

Tomcat crawled into the geolab and locked the inner hatch behind it. Half of Tang Yue’s body was illuminated by a pale yellow light while the other was shrouded in darkness. His visor was speckled with tiny drops of mist. They resembled Eskimos in an igloo, lighting a small whale oil lamp. Tomcat sprawled in front of Tang Yue in search of a comfortable position to curl into a ball.

The geolab was cramped and no matter where it lay, it took up most of the space.

Tang Yue prodded its tummy.

“What are you doing?” The cat turned its head over and rolled its eyes.

“Are you getting fatter?” Tang Yue asked. “I remember that you weren’t this fat when I first met you. How are you getting fatter?”

“Am I?” Tomcat raised its head and glanced at itself. After a few seconds of silence, it pulled back its waist and buttocks that were sprawled against the floor with its paw. “I’m still fifty kilograms. I’ve always been this weight. Is that heavy?”

“But you aren’t even 1.5 meters tall when you stand upright. You’re probably 1.4 meters or so… Probably 1.46?”

“Who told you that I’m not even 1.5 meters tall? When I left the factory, my height reached the standard 150 millimeters, or 1.5 meters. I’m definitely not 1.46 meters as you said. There’s a qualitative difference between 1.5 and 1.46. Rounding 1.46 makes it 1, and rounding 1.5 makes it 2,” Tomcat retorted. “The difference between the two is a full meter.”

Tang Yue’s eyes expressed his doubt.

“You don’t believe I’m two meters tall? Then watch!”

Tomcat stretched its body, clinging two of its paws to the inner walls of the geolab. Then, exerting some strength, it pulled its body like a noodle, trying hard to use its hind legs to grab the hatch. Tang Yue watched as the cat’s body grew longer and longer… Finally, there was a crisp cracking sound.

Holy sh*t, my back.

Tomcat instantly bounced back into a ball as it trembled.

Look at you and your silly stunts.

Broke your back, didn’t you?

Tang Yue adjusted his sitting position. Leaning his head against the interior of the Radiant Armor’s helmet, he closed his eyes with a smile.

Tomcat grunted and observed Tang Yue until he fell asleep. Silently, it crawled towards Tang Yue’s chest, curled into a ball, and closed its eyes.

They had ten hours of sleep before the sun rose the next day.

On this long and silent night, Tang Yue had the same dream repeated. In his dream, he reached the spot labeled in the letter; however, there wasn’t any lofty court like the Burj Khalifa. Nor was there any strange spacecraft or little green men. Someone had erected a lone grave there. When Tang Yue tried to approach the grave to read the tombstone, he always found himself back at his starting point.

Tang Yue tried all means to see the tombstone, having repeated that stretch countless times in his dream. Some of them were brief instances and others were as long as a year.

In the dream, Tomcat was sneering, saying that it was a Möbius strip. Do you know what a Möbius strip is?

Tang Yue finally succumbed to his fatigue as he slowly crawled towards the tomb. As for Tomcat, it stood on the tombstone laughing loudly. It had never revealed such a fearsome and terrifying expression. It looked more like a wolf than a cat. As Tomcat laughed, it shouted at him:

This is a Möbius strip!

Do you know what a Möbius strip is?

Do you know what the myth of Sisyphus is?

This is a loop! An infinite loop! You will never be able to leave this infinite loop!

Tang Yue instantly snapped awake as he opened his eyes, his body covered in a cold sweat.

He took deep breaths in the darkness as he still remembered the strange, colorful dream. However, he didn’t know why he was having such a dream. Was it a reflection of his worry that resulted from his pending arrival at his destination?

The geolab was pitch-black. It was probably still night and the sun hadn’t risen. Tang Yue had never slept so long before. He reached out for the emergency light and switched it on. Surveying his area, he saw a pile of packet food and bottled water. There was also the RTG. However, Tomcat was gone. He was the only one in the empty geolab.