Log entry Sol 727
According to my calculations, as long as everything goes to plan with Ares IV, I'm halfway to their being here. Only another 727 sols until they arrive. Another full Martian year and then some before I have in-person human contact again. Will I remember how to actually talk to people by then? I do send messages daily to someone back on Earth, emails to my parents, or status updates to the capcom, but it's not the same thing. I alternate between talking out loud to myself and not saying a word. I haven't actually physically spoken face-to-face with another human being in years now.
I worry that if I get too used to talking out loud to myself, I won't ever stop that habit when I join Ares IV. Then again, if I never talk because it's just me, will I speak up when I need to or will they be left wondering what I'm thinking? I've tried doing video logs so it's like I'm talking to someone, and reading out what I'm typing when I talk to whoever is on capcom duty. Both of those leave me feeling odd though, as if I'm in some strange movie and narrating for the audience so they won't have to read what I type.
I wish I had a robot or some type of AI that could converse with me in real-time. I do talk to Sojourner just like he's a real dog, that's something I suppose. If I still had plants I'd talk to them. Maybe someone thought ahead and put more Earth soil in my personal supply probe, but that's still… Wait, I just checked and that's only about 50 sols away. Wow, time is moving faster than I thought. Do I dare ask if they sent me soil? No, that isn't nearly as important as clothing, soap, toothpaste, all the stuff I've run out of again. I tried to take it easy and only use all of the cleaning products every other day, then once every few days and I still ran out. Clothes, oh I get new clothes, especially new underwear. I can't wait to put on new, fresh, clean clothes.
Suddenly I feel really grimy. I need to think about something else. I'm going to go watch some crappy 70s television again.
Log entry Sol 742
If everything goes right I have reached the halfway point of my stay on Mars. 742 sols from now I should be lifting off the planet either with the crew of Ares IV in their MAV or in the modified Ares I MDV. They're still working on both plans. I vacillate between which option I prefer. Sometimes I think I'd rather be at Schiaparelli waiting for them and being able to see and interact with humans sooner. However, if I stay put we can practice communicating between sites. I'll still have real-time communication with people which will be a great precedent for future colonies. It also means I won't have to spend weeks in the rover again or sit in some modified seat on their MAV with them flying overland in an untested manner. Well, not untested as they'll test it every way they can on Earth, but that's just not the same as on Mars.
Fortunately, it's not my decision in the long run. They'll take my suggestions under advisement but NASA will make the final decision.
Still, that means I'm halfway to no longer being a resident of this planet. I reserve the right to claim dual citizenship for life through the US and Mars. Yeah, I know Mars isn't a country so I can't really have citizenship, but I'm still gonna claim it. Here I don't have to pay taxes. Joke, that was a joke.
Oh shit! Taxes! Have I thought about this before? I've been here so long I don't honestly remember. Am I getting paid? Will I have to file back taxes? Can I have my parents do that for me while I'm here? I've missed two Aprils. For the first, they thought I was dead, but they knew by the second. No one mentioned it to me. They probably didn't want to stress me out. Didn't work, well it did, but not anymore. I shouldn't care. I really shouldn't. It hardly matters in the scheme of things, but now I'm thinking about it. I have to ask someone. I don't want the government coming for me when I land because I haven't paid my taxes in years. Someone can get the answers for me. Whom do I ask? Whom do I ask? Oh, yeah, obviously she's the one.
~~~~~
"Taxes?" Melody asked.
"Yeah," Mindy replied. "He's right, the IRS is ruthless. They'll expect him to file, or to have someone file for him. I haven't asked Tim or Grace about it yet. I'm sure they'd do it if asked…"
"No," the NASA administrator replied quickly. "Don't bother them with it, at least not yet. Let me do some looking into it and I'll fill them in and let you know so we can tell Mark. Honestly, I'm not sure he's even been declared alive again."
"Um, what? It's been over a year since we discovered he wasn't dead," Mindy pointed out. "How have we not handled that? Wait? Is he getting paychecks?"
Melody thought for a moment and grimaced. "Probably not. Shit! How is it that this slipped past us all? Okay, I have calls to make. Let Mark know I'm personally working on it."
"Will do."
~~~~~
Log entry Sol 742 (2)
The head of NASA is personally handling my tax problem. I'm not sure what to think about that. I suppose at least that way my parents don't have to do it, but doesn't the NASA administrator have better things to do with her time?
~~~~~
"Mr. and Mrs. Watney, thank you for coming in," Melody greeted the pair at her office door. "Please take a seat. Is there anything I can get you?"
"No, thank you, Dr. Astor," Grace replied while Timothy shook his head.
"I have a rather belated question to ask you."
"Belated?" Grace asked with a raised eyebrow.
"When we all believed Mark was lost, he was declared dead and a death certificate was issued, correct?" Melody questioned as gently as she could.
"Yes," Timothy answered.
"Have you completed the paperwork to rescind that certificate?"
"We attempted to," Grace told the other woman. "It's not an easy task as you can imagine."
"I had a feeling," Melody said. "I checked with our payroll department and they have not deposited checks for Mark as his account was closed and the Social Security Administration has deactivated his social security number. I have asked them to calculate what he is owed and continue tracking so that we can issue checks as soon as we are able. Obviously, nothing can be done until he has been declared alive once more. You have his power of attorney, correct?"
"Yes," Timothy said with a sigh, "not that that's helping us at all now. He has to prove he's alive. He has to appear in person or something."
Melody bit back a groan. "Naturally, is there a statute of limitations on how long he can wait after being declared dead to file and prove he's alive?"
"Not as far as we know," Grace replied. "Is that possible?"
"I don't know that it is in Texas. That is the state that issued the death certificate isn't it?"
Mark's parents both nodded.
"Decades ago there was a law on the books in Ohio that you had to file a petition with the court to be declared alive again within three years of being declared dead," Melody told them. "I don't know if it's still the law there or if that's changed, and I don't know if any other states have similar laws. I really have no idea what the Social Security Administration needs for proof. I can look into it, however."
"May I ask what brought this on?" Timothy inquired.
Melody nodded. "Certainly, it was Mark. He's worried about taxes."
"Taxes," Grace repeated, her eyes wide.
Tim began to laugh. "Of course, he's worried about taxes. Has he bothered to ask if he's being paid?"
"Not yet, but we'll inform him of all of that when we get a chance. Thank Mindy, he asked and she brought it to my attention," the NASA director said. "I'll put in a call to… I don't even know who in the state department, but I'll figure it out. Then I'll see what if anything we can do. In the meantime, if you need anything to cover expenses for storage of his things or anything else please let me know and we'll cover it."
"Thank you, Dr. Astor," Grace said.
"I will let you know as soon as I know anything," Melody replied. "I'll call or let Mindy know so she can fill you in when she gets home."
"We look forward to hearing from you."
~~~~~
Log entry Sol 749
So I'm still dead, according to the US and Texas state governments at least. Bonus, no worries about taxes, but I'm not getting paid either. I guess my parents didn't want to worry me, so they never mentioned it. I'm alive but not. I won't be officially alive until I get home years from now. How fucking stupid is that?
Dr. Astor wrote to me herself to explain the situation. Apparently, she's called everyone she can, including the governor of Texas and President Young and they can't find a way around the current laws. Supposedly they're looking into updating the law with an amendment or something but considering how slowly the government works sometimes, I could be back before they ever get it sorted.
I have been assured that I will be paid for all of my time and that either a NASA CPA will handle my taxes when I return or NASA will hire someone to handle it. That's fine with me. I'm not going to be in any mood to deal with fucking taxes when I finally get back to Earth. It's bad enough I'm going to have to appear in court to prove I'm alive. I wonder if they'd searched the site sooner and realized I was alive if this would be happening? Of course, then they would still be paying me and I would have to be dealing with taxes. Damned either way I suppose. Whatever, I don't really need to worry about it anymore so I'll let that worry go, at least someone else is dealing with it.
In the meantime, I've been rethinking the backup plan of having to live in the MDV if this Hab deflates. I need to clear out space, and get rid of extra seats so I have space to move around and set up a cot. I haven't mentioned those plans to anyone at NASA yet. I'm pretty sure they won't approve of my disassembling the MDV at all, especially as I could still use it to get to Hermes. I highly doubt they'll approve that plan. Though they may approve using it to get across Mars to Schiaparelli. I know I'd prefer that to drive that distance. It would be faster in the MDV, much much faster, minutes instead of weeks.
I don't want to live in the MDV, but I need to have a backup plan.
Log entry Sol 752
I finally brought up the MDV as a backup living space plan. It was approved but unsurprisingly the nannies at NASA want to do all the testing first. Look, I get it; they don't want to run any undue risks. At this point though everything is an undue risk and has been for well over a year. So while I'm not doing any modifications, I am moving things into the MDV. I already have one of the cots moved in, though there's no place to put it in the rendezvous section. For right now, I have it in the storage module.
Back when we started the mission, I made a video about the MDV and MAV and mentioned that they're kind of like the old Apollo spacecraft. They are, but unlike the Apollos they also have an attached storage module that we climb through to get to the flight deck, AKA main module. Remember we have to be prepared in case we have to abort the landing and go back to Hermes, but aren't able to dock immediately. Plus, we do take things from Hermes to the surface. The MAV is the same. Again, why do we have two ships? Why not just one and only send the fuel plant ahead? I'm just going to keep asking that question.
Log entry Sol 759
Permission to modify the MDV was granted.
That was the message waiting for me when I woke up this morning. It was followed by instructions on just what to change. They don't want to damage the structural integrity as it was decided to keep my plan of using the MDV to get to Hermes as a backup. The MAV modification list is being tested for return to orbit from Schiaparelli. The MDV overland plan is being tested and they think they may have it worked out. There is also a possibility of transferring the fuel from the MAV to the modified MDV that the Ares IV crew will bring to the surface so they don't have to modify the MAV. Also, another possibility is using the Ares I fuel plant to refuel the MDV when they land to pick me up before going to Schiaparelli. Yeah, lots of possible plans in the works, and nothing definite. Except, for modifying the Ares I MDV by removing four of the seats, but so far that's all. Two seats will remain and none of the control panels are to be touched. Still, it means I can set up my backup home. I'm going to go and get started.
~~~~~
Log entry Sol 796
The probe lands tomorrow