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00:00The return capsule tore through the clouds, trailing fire.
00:04Five years ago, I launched for Mars.
00:07A six-month mission that stranded me for five years.
00:12Altitude 30,000 feet.
00:14Main suit deployed.
00:15Recovery ship confirms!
00:17The flight control hull erupted in applause.
00:20Hero, Evan Carter is home!
00:23I was pulled from the hatch and saw Ethan Hull, the ground flight director.
00:28The fiancé I'd waited five years for.
00:31Smiling, I reached out to him.
00:33Five years ago, you said you'd marry me when I got back.
00:36Ethan, I'm back.
00:38He didn't take it.
00:40He only said quietly,
00:41Welcome home, Evelyn.
00:43I asked eagerly.
00:44The quarantine's over. Can I see Mom first?
00:47She's waiting for me outside the medical center, isn't she?
00:51I want to tell her I'm back.
00:53This time, I'm really not leaving.
00:54At the start of the mission, the base had announced that
00:57Limited by the relay window,
00:59This Mars mission could for now only transmit one way from Mars to Earth.
01:03Earth couldn't send anything back.
01:05So I hadn't heard from Earth in a long time.
01:09Ethan said nothing.
01:11My smile slowly frozen.
01:13Why won't you say anything?
01:15He took Mia Vard's hand.
01:17She was the backup mission specialist.
01:19And my best friend.
01:20I froze.
01:22Mia?
01:23Why are you standing here?
01:24Mia's eyes reddened.
01:25Evelyn, you've only just gotten back.
01:28Don't get worked up.
01:29There's a lot you don't know yet.
01:30Ethan picked up the microphone.
01:32While Evelyn is back among us,
01:34I'd like to announce that Mia and I are engaged.
01:38Camera shutouts went off in a storm.
01:40I stared at the ring on his ring finger.
01:43A meteorous iron band.
01:45Sapphire catching the light.
01:47The wedding ring I designed.
01:49Ethan, the whole world is watching.
01:51My voice shook.
01:52So you're wearing my ring to announce you're marrying my best friend?
01:55Ethan's face went cold.
01:57Enough.
01:59You're the one who gave up first.
02:01He turned the tablet to the cameras.
02:03A document popped up.
02:05Renexigation of engagement to Ethan Hale.
02:08Signed, Evelyn Carter.
02:09I stared at that line.
02:11I didn't sign that, Ethan said.
02:14From the third year on, all you sent were mission bulletins.
02:17How was I supposed to believe you?
02:19I contacted you every single day,
02:21and I sent my mom birthday wishes.
02:22If the content changed, then someone altered it.
02:25Then pull the comms logs.
02:27Mia grabbed his arm at once.
02:31Evelyn, your mother is already...
02:33Mia!
02:33Ethan cut her off sharply.
02:35I went roged.
02:36What happened to my mom?
02:38She's waiting for me outside the medical center, isn't she?
02:45Ethan avoided my eyes,
02:47but Mia leaned so close to my ear that only I could hear.
02:51You don't know yet?
02:52Your mother died three years ago.
02:54My vision went black.
02:56I grabbed the mic stand.
02:59What did you say?
03:01She held my hand the way she used to comfort me,
03:03but her fingertips were ice cold.
03:06At the end, she kept asking why Eve wouldn't write back.
03:10That message?
03:12I'm the one who listened to it for you.
03:13Shut up!
03:14I shoved her away.
03:15I'm going to see my mom!
03:16You're all lying to me!
03:17She couldn't have passed away alone!
03:19Mia sank into Ethan's arms,
03:21tears spilling instantly.
03:23I only wanted to tell her the truth.
03:25Ethan's first instinct was but to shield her.
03:28Evelyn, calm down!
03:30I could barely breathe.
03:31Ask her what she just said!
03:32Ask her!
03:33Mia shook her head.
03:34She just found out her mother died.
03:36I don't blame her.
03:37Ethan looked at me, lowering his voice.
03:38She's your best friend.
03:39She'd never hurt you on purpose.
03:41A doctor rushed over and strapped a monitor on me,
03:43but I kept my eyes on Ethan.
03:44She listened to my mom's message in my place!
03:46Ethan, did you hear that?
03:47She knew all along!
03:48Ethan's hand hung in midter,
03:50then settled on my shoulder.
03:51Calm down first.
03:52Don't let the press get more footage.
03:54Before the quarantine door came down,
03:55Mia raised a hand to me through the glass,
03:57her lips mouthing silently.
03:59He believes me now.
04:00I threw myself against the glass.
04:02Ethan, do you really not know?
04:03He stood outside the door, pale.
04:05I knew the comms filtering would condense things,
04:07but I didn't know your mother...
04:08So you knew it had been altered?
04:10I laughed through tears.
04:12You never once asked whether I wanted to hear the real words.
04:15Ethan pressed the medical lockdown button himself.
04:17Evelyn, you need to calm down now.
04:19The red light came on.
04:20In that moment, I understood.
04:21It was never just Mars that had trapped me.
04:24It was this hand of his.
04:25I laughed until I shook.
04:27Mia knows exactly where it hurts.
04:29That's how she cuts the deepest.
04:32The next day, the internet was splumped with footage of me shoving Mia down.
04:36No whisper from her.
04:37No mention of my mother.
04:39Just my face.
04:40Out of control.
04:41Reporters crowded around me.
04:42Commander Carter, do you have violent tendencies?
04:44I asked,
04:46Where's the full video?
04:47Mia stood beside Ethan.
04:49Eyes red.
04:50I don't want to press charges.
04:52She just lost her mother.
04:54It's understandable she can't cope.
04:56And Ethan said,
04:58Mia has been very restrained.
04:59I looked at him.
05:01You know, she leaned in and said something to me.
05:03She was comforting you.
05:05Did you hear that?
05:08He was silent for a beat.
05:13Evelyn, everyone is watching right now.
05:16Don't blow this up any further.
05:18The full surveillance is locked in the PR department.
05:21Mia said,
05:23I'm the one with the access.
05:25But releasing it now would only hurt you.
05:28I laughed.
05:29When you were editing me,
05:30you weren't so worried about hurting me.
05:33She lowered her eyes.
05:35Eve, I know you hate me.
05:38But you can't drag the whole mission down with you.
05:40I said,
05:41Stop hiding behind me on the mission.
05:44The mission never taught you to steal my mother's voice.
05:47Ethan came in,
05:49glanced at Mia's red-rimped eyes,
05:51then on my clenched fists.
05:53His first words were,
05:54Stop provoking her.
05:57I asked,
05:58Who exactly are you saying that to?
06:01He said nothing.
06:03That noon,
06:04the official account released an edited clip.
06:06Returning hero loses control.
06:08Assaults mission specialist.
06:10I asked Ethan,
06:11Where's the full video?
06:13He turned the tablet face down.
06:16Releasing it would only make things uglier.
06:18I laughed.
06:19Uglier because I was framed.
06:21Or because you've realized you protected the wrong person.
06:27Samuel Vaughn showed up at the review hearing.
06:29Mia's father,
06:30and chairman of the Federal Space Safety Committee.
06:32He slid a psychiatric evaluation request across the table.
06:36Commander Carter,
06:37homecoming trauma needs treatment.
06:39You're in no condition to keep speaking publicly.
06:41Is this treatment,
06:43or a gag order?
06:44I asked.
06:46The Mars program can't be brought down by one person's private feelings.
06:50Vaughn smiled.
06:52And the time the main oxygen valve was shut off by mistake?
06:56Mia's eyes reddened at once.
06:59Eve, do you have to drag my family into this too?
07:02Vaughn slid another briefing in front of me,
07:04titled Life Support Incident,
07:06Preliminary Official Line.
07:07The first page named the responsible party,
07:09Evelyn Carter, emotionally and without authorization,
07:12took over the procedure.
07:13The second page, however,
07:14said Mia's younger brother,
07:15while oxygen deflied,
07:16proposed the recovery plan that saved 13 people.
07:22I looked up.
07:24So you're going to pin the accident on me
07:26and turn her brother into the hero?
07:28Mia choked up.
07:29He nearly died in that cabin too.
07:31Eve,
07:31why won't you let even one survivor be?
07:34I sneered.
07:36He shut the main oxygen valve by mistake.
07:39I saved everyone?
07:41The way you tell it,
07:42it sounds like I stole his life?
07:44Ethan frowned.
07:45Chairman Vaughn is only going by procedure.
07:47You heard that?
07:50They want to write me up as the one at fault for the accident?
07:53And you're defending their procedure?
07:55Director Hale,
07:57no one understands the cost of the mission's reputation
07:59menier than you.
08:00Chairman Vaughn turned to Ethan.
08:03I'll talk to her.
08:04Ethan said under his breath,
08:05Talk me into shutting up?
08:08To talk you out of backing yourself into a corner.
08:10Mia jumped in at once.
08:12Eve,
08:13he really is worried about you.
08:14During the break,
08:15Vaughn took Ethan to the far end of the corridor.
08:18The Federation needs a stable narrative.
08:19Will the public believe a woman who lost control
08:21the moment she got home,
08:22or a hero who nearly gave his life?
08:25Ethan was silent a long time,
08:26then said only,
08:27Evelyn saved lives.
08:30Vaughn said mildly,
08:32Saving lives is one thing.
08:34Who deserves to be remembered is another.
08:37I pushed the door open.
08:39So who the public believes is something you've arranged all along?
08:43Mia moved to her father's side.
08:44Dad, stop.
08:46Eve can't take any of this in right now.
08:49I looked at her.
08:50When you call him Dad,
08:52you drop the best friend act fast enough.
08:56Mia released a second video.
08:58This time it was my medical report.
08:59Declining bone density,
09:01radiation over the limit,
09:02and abnormal trauma score.
09:03She wept to the camera.
09:04I'm just worried about Eve.
09:06She didn't used to be like this.
09:07She's my best friend.
09:08I turned off the screen,
09:09my fingers trembling too hard to hold the cup.
09:12Ethan came to me.
09:16I'll find out who leaked the report.
09:18You don't need to look.
09:20You already know the answer.
09:22He avoided my eyes.
09:23Maybe Mia only wanted the doctors to step in.
09:27I shot back.
09:29Was leaking my medical pain for my own good too?
09:32Ethan said quietly,
09:33She's been under a lot of pressure these three years too.
09:36My mother died.
09:37I was trapped for five years.
09:38My credit was stolen.
09:41And the first thing you do is feel sorry for her stress.
09:45I slammed the report down in front of Ethan.
09:47That's my lung scan,
09:48my bone density,
09:48my psych score.
09:49Who but Mia could get hold of it?
09:50Ethan said,
09:51The father has medical review access.
09:52I stared at him.
09:53So you know the Vons can reach into my medical records
09:55and you still tell me not to overreact?
09:57Ethan reached for the medical report.
09:59I pinned it down.
10:01Don't.
10:01Every time you clean up after her,
10:03you only smear the dirt in deeper.
10:05He said,
10:06I just don't want you to keep getting attacked.
10:08I pointed at Mia's interview on the screen.
10:11The person attacking me is standing right behind you.
10:13She read my medical history out to the whole world,
10:16then cried about how much she loves me.
10:18She really did go to the hospital with your mother.
10:20Ethan said quietly.
10:21I froze.
10:21You knew?
10:22She said your mother didn't want you distracted
10:24and asked her not to tell you.
10:25I laughed until my throat ached.
10:27Did my mom tell her not to tell me
10:28or did she just make you believe that?
10:29Ethan, you were never this easy to fool.
10:31You only wanted to be on her side.
10:32The corridor screen suddenly switched to a poster.
10:35Heroes of the Vong family,
10:37the miracle of 13 Mars survivors.
10:39And I was relegated to an accident footnote in the corner.
10:42Emotionally unstable since return,
10:44pending evaluation.
10:45I asked Ethan.
10:46Do you see that?
10:47They've already put up the script.
10:49Ethan looked away.
10:50Don't provoke Mia.
10:51She's carrying a lot right now too.
10:53He was just afraid the handle might bruise Mia's hand.
10:56He didn't answer.
10:57Favoritism doesn't always have to be spoken aloud.
10:59Silence is enough.
11:03I pulled up the private communication records.
11:06After the third year,
11:08the birthday wishes I sent my mother
11:09had all been turned into mission status summaries.
11:14So were the messages I'd sent Ethan.
11:17Original.
11:17I almost didn't make it back today,
11:19but I wanted to hear you say you'd wait for me.
11:21Ground version.
11:22Astronaut completed EVM maintenance.
11:24Condition stable.
11:25I pushed the screen toward Ethan.
11:27Is this what you saw?
11:28He went pale.
11:29Mia said you'd shut yourself off,
11:31not up for emotional contact.
11:32So you believed it?
11:34She ran the comms filtering.
11:36And she's your best friend.
11:37I thought she wanted to protect you more than anyone.
11:40I looked at him.
11:41Has it ever occurred to you
11:42that it's precisely because she knows me?
11:44That she knew how to rewrite me
11:45into someone who doesn't love you?
11:47Ethan turned to a receipt from three years back
11:49that read,
11:50Astronaut confirms no family contact required.
11:52When I saw this,
11:53I truly thought you didn't want to be disturbed.
11:55You know me best.
11:56Could I ever not want to hear my mother's voice?
11:58His eyes reddened,
11:59but he still made excuses for her.
12:01Maybe she just misjudged it.
12:03One mistake is a mistake.
12:04I said quietly,
12:06three years of it is murder.
12:07The communications center's old backups
12:10turned page by page,
12:11and I saw the 37 messages
12:13I'd written to my mother.
12:15Each one was followed by a cold note,
12:17converted to mission summary.
12:18I pointed at one of them.
12:20Here.
12:21I said I dreamed she was waiting for me
12:23in a hospital hallway.
12:24What did the ground relay to her instead?
12:28Noah pulled up the relayed version.
12:31An astronaut reports good sleep quality.
12:34I closed my eyes,
12:35barely able to stand.
12:37Emi,
12:37but I stepped back.
12:39Stop acting.
12:40When you saw these summaries,
12:41did you ever feel,
12:42even for a second,
12:43that something was wrong?
12:44He said.
12:45Yes.
12:46And?
12:47Mia said deep space missions
12:48can't let emotions eat up the bandwidth.
12:50I opened my eyes.
12:52She speaks,
12:53and you believe.
12:54She broke my voice into spare parts,
12:57and you praised her for being professional.
13:00Ethan opened his mouth,
13:01but no words came.
13:03Mia asked me to meet on the rooftop.
13:05She was still wearing that moon dust pendant,
13:07the one I'd asked her to pass on to Ethan
13:09before I left.
13:10Give it back.
13:11I held out my hand.
13:12She smiled.
13:14Ethan says it looks more like
13:15a new beginning on me.
13:16I stared at her.
13:17You're disgusting.
13:19She leaned close to my ear.
13:23Do you know what your mom's last words were?
13:26She asked the nurse
13:27whether Eve had stopped wanting her.
13:33Blood rushed straight to my head.
13:36Mia went on.
13:40I could have told you,
13:42but the accident paperwork
13:43had to be handled that same day.
13:45I have to look after the living first.
13:48I slapped her.
13:49The rooftop door opened at the same moment.
13:52Ethan rushed in and pulled her behind him.
13:54Evelyn!
13:54Mia sobbed behind him.
13:56Don't blame her.
13:57I shouldn't have brought up her mother.
13:59Ethan held Mia,
14:00but the first thing he said was to me.
14:03Apologize.
14:05I froze.
14:06She used my dead mother to provoke me,
14:08and you want me to apologize.
14:11Mia trembled as she cried.
14:14It's fine.
14:15I know she hates me.
14:17Ethan gripped her shoulder.
14:20Stop covering for her.
14:24In that moment,
14:25I could barely tell
14:26which of us had just lost a mother.
14:29The wind on the rooftop was fierce.
14:32Mia pressed the pendant to her chest.
14:35After you left,
14:36your mom often had me over for dinner.
14:38She said seeing me
14:39was like seeing you still on Earth.
14:41My outstretched hand froze in midair.
14:43She whispered.
14:44So I'm sad too,
14:45but what's the use of being sad?
14:47She needed someone at the end.
14:48I was there.
14:49Ethan needed someone.
14:50I was there too.
14:50You were on Mars.
14:51You couldn't give anything.
14:52I gritted my teeth.
14:53You traded your company
14:54for everything I had,
14:55and now you want me to thank you?
14:57A flicker of cold
14:58finally showed in Mia's eyes.
15:00Eve,
15:00you're always like this.
15:01Everyone's supposed to wait for you,
15:03believe you,
15:03worship you,
15:04but people on Earth get tired too.
15:06The door swung open.
15:07Ethan rushed in
15:08and saw only my raised hand.
15:10Mia didn't dodge.
15:11It was as if she'd been waiting
15:12for the slap to land.
15:14Mia took an old set of keys
15:15from her bag
15:16and set them gently on the table.
15:18In her final days,
15:19I was the one who opened
15:20that door for her.
15:21She said.
15:22She even wrote down
15:23the apple pie recipe for me.
15:24My fingertips went cold.
15:26That's the key to my home.
15:30She smiled faintly.
15:33You weren't on Earth.
15:35Somebody had to hold on
15:36to a lot of things for you.
15:37Ethan looked and looked at
15:39like I was a stranger.
15:42You really frighten me now.
15:45I asked Ethan.
15:47You really knew nothing at all?
15:49He was silent a long while.
15:51Then finally said.
15:53In the third year,
15:55I got a comms anomaly alert.
15:58Something in my chest went cold.
16:00And then?
16:01Mia said it was a system
16:02trans-conguting glitch.
16:03She'd handle it.
16:04And you didn't double-check?
16:06He whispered.
16:08Everything you sent back then
16:09was just confirmation receipts.
16:12Mia waited with me every day.
16:13I didn't want to doubt her anymore.
16:16You didn't want to doubt her?
16:18So you doubted me instead.
16:21I thought you'd really changed.
16:23Ethan looked at me in anguish.
16:25It's not that you couldn't see the cracks.
16:28You just chose to stand on the warmer side.
16:31I asked him.
16:33If there were no evidence today,
16:34would you still think I was being impossible?
16:36Ethan didn't answer.
16:37Silence was the answer.
16:39I nodded.
16:40It's not Mia you fell in love with.
16:42It's the version of you she comforted.
16:44The one who never had to face his own betrayal.
16:46Noah pulled up the rooftop footage.
16:48Image only.
16:49No sound.
16:50Mia stood behind Ethan.
16:52Face buried in her hands.
16:53Shoulders heaving.
16:54I said.
16:56She brought up my mother first.
16:58Ethan looked at the silent footage.
17:01I didn't hear it.
17:02So you decided I was guilty?
17:04He shut his eyes in pain.
17:06I only saw you hit her.
17:08You saw my hand.
17:09But not her handing over the knife.
17:11Because you didn't want to look.
17:13I nodded.
17:15Mia suddenly cried out.
17:17Eve, how do you want me to prove I meant no harm?
17:19Should I cut my own heart open and show you?
17:21I looked at her coldly.
17:24No need.
17:25Your heart.
17:26I misjudged your heart three years ago.
17:28I don't want to look again.
17:29Mia showed the bruise on her wrist to the cameras.
17:31Stop filming her.
17:32She's just in too much pain.
17:34The reporter's cameras only pressed closer.
17:36I knew she was saving me.
17:38And that every time she did,
17:39it was like finding a new accusation onto me.
17:42He went pale.
17:44But I didn't cry anymore.
17:46Mia had already wringed a layer of tears out of me.
17:50I went back to my mother's old home.
17:52A neighbor handed me an iron box.
17:55Before your mother passed,
17:56she said to give this to Eve when she came back.
17:59The box held an apple pie recipe,
18:01a hospital wristband,
18:02and a voice recorder.
18:04My mother's voice came through.
18:06Eve, mom doesn't blame you.
18:08So far away.
18:09It must have been hard on you too.
18:11I knelt on the floor,
18:13my breath like it was being squeezed out of me.
18:16Ms. Carter, the call request was rejected again.
18:19In the second clip, the nurse said,
18:20My mother said softly,
18:22Is she very busy?
18:25Then don't rush her.
18:27Clutching the recorder,
18:29I finally cried until I lost my voice.
18:31This wasn't the composed weeping of a mission.
18:34It was being hollowed out completely.
18:37I called out for mom over and over,
18:39but no one in the house ever answered again.
18:41I sent Ethan the recording with a single line.
18:44This is the protection you talked about.
18:46He called.
18:47I didn't pick up.
18:48A long while later,
18:49he sent a message.
18:50I'll look into it.
18:52The screen lit and went dark.
18:54I didn't reply.
18:55What should have been checked three years ago now felt like incense ash arriving too late.
19:00That night,
19:01Ethan kept watch outside my hospital room.
19:03When I woke,
19:04he was in the chair,
19:05a creased old photo in his hand.
19:07It was me,
19:07him,
19:08and Mia.
19:09Before the Mars mission,
19:10Mia had taken the photo,
19:12insisting on crowding into the frame,
19:14saying it only counted with all three of us.
19:16The two of you were really close back then.
19:20So she knew exactly where to strike.
19:23Ethan said,
19:24I always thought she was holding things together down here for you.
19:28I said,
19:29Of course she held it together.
19:31I looked out the window,
19:32holding up your guilt,
19:34holding up the Vaughn's glory,
19:35and holding up the line no one answered as my mother lay dying.
19:39In the rehab center lobby,
19:41the hero promo film played on a loop.
19:43The voiceover said,
19:45Some break down in a disaster.
19:47Others save everyone.
19:49I stood before the screen and heard a nurse behind me whisper,
19:52Isn't she the one who nearly got the whole crew killed?
19:56Ethan hurried over.
19:57His first instinct wasn't to shut off the screen,
20:00but to block my face.
20:02Don't look.
20:04I pushed him aside.
20:06What good does blocking me do?
20:09They've already strung me up.
20:11That night I didn't sleep.
20:12By dawn I had only one thought.
20:14I wanted Mia to give back every word she'd stolen.
20:20Mia made her third move.
20:22She sent the media a photo of me collapsing on my knees outside my mother's old home.
20:28Captioned,
20:29Returning heroes trauma worsens.
20:32Chairman Vars promptly filed to reopen my psychiatric evaluation.
20:35Ethan came to me at the hospital.
20:37Cooperate with the assessment first.
20:38Don't hand them ammunition.
20:39Who's them?
20:41Mia?
20:41Her father?
20:42You too?
20:43I'm trying to help you.
20:44Every time you help me, you happen to help her steady the knife.
20:46The lights in the evaluation room were glaring.
20:49The doctor asked,
20:50Do you believe Mia Vard deliberately harmed you?
20:54I said,
20:55I don't think so.
20:56I know so.
20:58Outside the door,
20:59Mia normered,
21:00She's hostile towards everyone now.
21:02It isn't safe.
21:03I laughed.
21:04Listen to that,
21:05She's at it again.
21:07Drive me mad,
21:07Then prove I'm mad.
21:09The doctor handed over a temporary,
21:10Invotanary observation order.
21:12Filed by Mia Vaughn.
21:14Reviewed and signed,
21:15Ethan Hale.
21:16I looked up at Ethan.
21:19You signed this?
21:21Ethan's throat bobbed.
21:22I just want the doctors to protect you first.
21:24Every time you hurt me,
21:26You call it protecting me.
21:28Mia stood behind him,
21:29Tears clinging to her lashes.
21:32Eve, I'm really scared something will happen to you.
21:35I looked at her.
21:37Are you afraid something will happen to me?
21:39Or afraid I still have the strength to speak?
21:41Ethan frowned.
21:43Enough!
21:43Stop pushing her!
21:47The doctor asked me to surrender my comms device,
21:50Citing the need to remove triggers.
21:52I took off the wristband and set it on the table.
21:55Fine.
21:56But put this on the record too.
21:58I looked at the one-way glass.
21:59Let the record show who's provoking whom today.
22:03Don't let them edit it again.
22:05His first glance still went to Mia.
22:08In that moment,
22:09I was too tired even to be disappointed.
22:14Noah West found me.
22:16He'd been the mission psychologist,
22:18one of the few still willing to look at the raw records.
22:20He handed me a backup.
22:22After the third year,
22:24your psych logs were tampered with.
22:26I opened the file and saw Mia's signature on the request.
22:29Recommendation,
22:30flag Evelyn Carter as high trauma risk,
22:32early retrieval not advised.
22:34I said,
22:35On whose authority?
22:36She used temporary clearance granted by Vaughn's office.
22:39Her father.
22:41And there's the black box.
22:43The raw in-cabbage footage
22:44from those six hours of the oxygen valve accident was sealed.
22:47I asked.
22:49Can you unlock it?
22:50Yes.
22:53But you'll have to hold up through the next hearing.
22:55Noah asked.
22:56Do you still trust Ethan?
22:59I shook my head.
23:01I trust that he'll feel guilty.
23:03I don't trust that he'll take my side first.
23:06Then don't hand him the evidence.
23:08I gripped the backup drive.
23:10This time,
23:11no one chooses for me.
23:12Noah tucked the backup under the bottom of the first aid kit.
23:15They'll search your place.
23:16They'll search mine too.
23:18I asked.
23:19Why are you helping me?
23:22He said.
23:23Because when you saved me on Mars,
23:25you didn't ask me which side I was on.
23:28I was quiet a long time,
23:29then said suddenly,
23:30Ethan was one of the 13.
23:32Noah nodded.
23:33He was at ground command.
23:35He heard you call his name
23:36when you restarted life support by hand.
23:38I went still.
23:39Only then did I realize that,
23:41at the brink of death,
23:43I'd still thought of him.
23:45Yet the first hand he took
23:46when he got back to Earth
23:47was Mia's.
23:48I asked Noah,
23:49and if I lose.
23:53He pushed the backup disc into my palm.
23:57Then at least you'd lose with the truth.
24:00Not the version they wrote for you.
24:03I looked at my mother's voice recorder.
24:08I'll hold on.
24:09They broke me once.
24:11There won't be a second time.
24:14Mia forged a threatening email.
24:17The sender was me.
24:18It read,
24:19I'm going to destroy that commendation
24:20and bring down the viance.
24:22Ethan brought me the email,
24:24his voice low.
24:25Did you send this?
24:25I looked at him.
24:27The fact that you even have to ask
24:29means you already half believe it.
24:32I only want to confirm.
24:33Did you confirm my messages?
24:35Did you confirm my mother's calls?
24:37Mia stood behind him and said softly,
24:39Eve,
24:40I don't want to call the police.
24:41I laughed.
24:43How generous of you.
24:45Ethan frowned.
24:46Don't talk like that.
24:47She forged the email
24:48and you're telling me to watch my tone?
24:52The technicians quickly proved
24:54the email hadn't come from my terminal.
24:56Ethan saw the results and went pale.
24:59Why would Mia go this far?
25:00I said,
25:01You're finally asking why.
25:03He looked up.
25:04I went on.
25:05A pity it's not my pain you're asking about.
25:07It's how she got bad enough
25:09that even you can't keep explaining her away.
25:11Ethan put the results of the analysis
25:13of the forged mail on the table
25:15and the sound was light.
25:16The source points to Vaughn's office.
25:18I asked,
25:19Are you going to turn it in?
25:21He hesitated for half a second.
25:26In that half second,
25:27I already knew the answer.
25:30I need to confirm
25:31whether it was Mia herself.
25:32He said.
25:33I laughed.
25:34When were you ever this rigorous with me?
25:37One edited clip
25:38was enough for you to tell me to calm down,
25:40but one forged email lands on her
25:42and suddenly you need to verify the source.
25:45Ethan's face went gray.
25:46Evelyn, I'm not trying to cover for her.
25:48I pushed the file back.
25:50You are.
25:51You just don't dare say it so self-rightlessly anymore.
25:54Ethan said nothing.
25:55A flicker of satisfaction crossed Mia's eyes.
25:58What she's best at isn't lying.
26:00It's getting Ethan to keep her lies looking respectable.
26:04Mia came to me the night before the hearing.
26:07No makeup, looking genuinely worn out.
26:10She said,
26:11We used to be friends.
26:13Don't let this spiral pass the point of no return.
26:16I said,
26:17Friends don't rewrite my messages.
26:20I only made the choice you never dared to.
26:22Gave up my mother for me.
26:24Lost me Ethan.
26:25Handed my credit to your family.
26:26Mia's eyes went cold.
26:28You've already had it all.
26:29The mission,
26:30the glory,
26:31Ethan.
26:32Why can't someone else win for once?
26:34By trampling me into a mad woman to win?
26:37She leaned in.
26:38Withdraw the charges tomorrow
26:40and I can make Ethan turn back to you.
26:43I said,
26:45Keep it.
26:47Anything you've touched I find filthy.
26:49Mia paused at the door before leaving.
26:51Eve, you used to share everything with me.
26:53Dresses, scholarships, interviews.
26:55Why not this time?
26:56I said,
26:57Because this time what you want to split is my mother's life,
26:59my innocence,
27:00and the 13 people I saved.
27:02Mia's face finally darkened.
27:04Then don't blame me.
27:05Mia asked to meet me at the old training hall.
27:07A photo hung there from the first time we passed centrifuge training,
27:11with her beside me.
27:12Smiling even wider than I was.
27:14She touched the edge of the photo.
27:17I was so proud of you back then.
27:19But later everyone only saw you.
27:21No one saw me.
27:22I said,
27:23So you stole?
27:26I'm just taking back a little of the attention that should have been mine.
27:30She looked back at me.
27:31You have the talent.
27:33You have Ethan.
27:34You have your mom.
27:35After you left Earth,
27:36somebody had to look after them.
27:38I said quietly,
27:40Caring for someone isn't owning them.
27:42She smiled.
27:43Easy for you to say.
27:44You played hero on Mars while I sat on Earth listening to your mother cough until she couldn't sleep.
27:49Eve,
27:49what gives you the right to take it all back the moment you return?
27:52Mia stared at the old photo,
27:53then suddenly said,
27:55My brother is one first class commendation away,
27:57and the Varns keep all their funding.
27:59I said,
28:00So you used my life as a stepping stone?
28:02For the first time,
28:03she stopped pretending.
28:04Eve,
28:05you've already got too much.
28:06Why can't you share a little?
28:07I said,
28:08word by word.
28:09Because it isn't a cake.
28:11It's 13 lives I saved.
28:14Hatred finally surfaced in Mia.
28:17Then I'll make everyone believe you don't even remember what you said!
28:22At the first hearing,
28:24Mia sat in a white dress,
28:26every inch the victim.
28:27She said,
28:28Evelyn is my best friend.
28:30Everything I did was for psychological safety.
28:32The panel asked Ethan,
28:34Do you believe Mia acted with malice?
28:36I looked at him.
28:38Ethan's throat moved.
28:39No obvious malice.
28:41She really has been carrying the communications pressure.
28:43The whole room went silent.
28:45And then I laughed.
28:47I took off the ring and set it on the table.
28:50Ethan,
28:51the engagement is off.
28:53Ethan's expression cracked.
28:55Evelyn,
28:56this isn't the time for that.
28:57Then when?
28:58After you've finished testifying for her?
29:01After they've ruled me insane?
29:04Mia cried.
29:08I never meant to take you away.
29:11At the stand,
29:12I pushed the ring forward.
29:14Ethan reached for it.
29:15I pinned the document down.
29:17Don't touch it.
29:18It's evidence now.
29:19Proof that you wore my promise to marry my best friend.
29:22Mia paled.
29:23Chairman Vaughn frowned.
29:24Personal matters shouldn't interfere with a mission investigation.
29:27I looked at him.
29:29Where was that fairness when your daughter was interfering with my whole life?
29:32The hearing officer asked Ethan,
29:34In the three years before her return,
29:36did you receive filtered communications?
29:38Ethan glanced at me,
29:40then said,
29:41Yes.
29:42Did you notice that personal content had been reduced to summaries?
29:45He gripped the edge of the table.
29:47I did.
29:47The color drained from Mia's face.
29:49She whispered,
29:50Ethan!
29:51He swallowed hard,
29:52but still said,
29:53I didn't press it.
29:54Mia told me it was to keep the mission stable.
29:56I sat across from him,
29:57my fingertips slowly going cold.
29:59The truth was closer than I'd thought.
30:00It wasn't that he knew nothing.
30:02He just chose the easy belief every time.
30:04I placed the ring in the evidence tray.
30:06I said,
30:06This is my wedding ring,
30:07and the first piece of evidence of Ethan's favoritism toward Mia.
30:10Ethan went pale.
30:12I looked at him.
30:13You wore it to announce your engagement.
30:15Wore it to sign my psych eval.
30:17Wore it to make me apologize to her.
30:19Mia's eyes reddened.
30:21Do you have to drag personal feelings in here?
30:24I said,
30:26It wasn't personal when you stole my life.
30:29I looked at her.
30:30You didn't steal a man.
30:32You stole my life.
30:35The next day,
30:36Noah recovered part of the black box.
30:38In the footage,
30:39the main oxygen valve was tripped by accident,
30:41and the oxygen pressure for all 13 crew dropped at once.
30:45I dragged my injured leg towards the manual valve and rasped.
30:48Log the operator.
30:50Evelyn Carter.
30:51The ground summary, however,
30:53claimed,
30:54A Vaughn family engineer proposed the recovery plan,
30:57which Evelyn assisted in carrying out.
31:00Noah said,
31:02This isn't an error.
31:04It's credit theft.
31:06I stared at the screen.
31:08Release it tomorrow.
31:10He asked,
31:12Can you hold up?
31:15I said,
31:16My mom waited three years for me.
31:18The least I can do is hold up for one day.
31:20At the next day's hearing,
31:22the black box footage went up on the big screen,
31:25with the live media feed patched in at the same time.
31:29Ethan's voice came over the old channel.
31:31Evelyn, can you hear me?
31:33Don't push yourself.
31:34On the recording,
31:35I let out a laugh,
31:37breathing hard.
31:38Director Hale,
31:39lose the weepy voice.
31:41I'm not dead yet.
31:43In the footage,
31:44my palm was sliced open by the metal,
31:46beads of blood drifting in the zero-gravity cabin.
31:49I said,
31:50Log it.
31:51The rescue was carried by Evelyn Carter.
31:54Don't rewrite me again.
31:55A second later,
31:57the falsified summary floated up on the right side of the screen.
32:01The room erupted.
32:03I turned to Mia.
32:04You wanted a hero, didn't you?
32:06Now let everyone see who wrote that hero into being.
32:10The color drained from Mia's face,
32:12bit by bit.
32:13Ethan, standing by the witness stand,
32:15said quietly at last,
32:17The original record is genuine.
32:19Then who approved the hero campaign before this?
32:22For the first time,
32:23Chairman Vorn didn't answer right away.
32:26I looked at the camera.
32:27Don't worry.
32:28The comms records are still to come.
32:30I didn't look at him.
32:32Proof this late only proves how blind he'd been.
32:36The video played at the hearing.
32:38The color drained of Mia's face.
32:40Chairman Vorn rose at once.
32:41Unverified material can't be admitted as evidence.
32:44Noah handed over the verification report.
32:46Original timestance intact, unedited.
32:48A panel member turned to Ethan.
32:49Director Hale, did you receive a comms anomaly alert three years ago?
32:52Ethan's fingers clenched.
32:55Mia watched him, tears already brimming.
32:58He was silent a long while.
33:00Yes.
33:01I looked at him.
33:03Why didn't you pursue it?
33:04Ethan's voice was horny.
33:06Mia said she'd handle it.
33:07I chose to believe her.
33:08Below the stand, Mia shook her head as if pleading with him.
33:10Ethan saw it.
33:11So did I.
33:12I could almost predict his hesitation.
33:13Sure enough, he shut his eyes before going on.
33:15I had no proof that Mia was innocent,
33:16yet I kept telling Evelyn to calm down.
33:18That was my failure and my favoritism.
33:20When Mia was asked to speak, she still looked to Ethan first.
33:23That look was all too familiar.
33:24Every time she'd cause trouble before, she'd look at me like that,
33:27waiting for me to clean it up.
33:28Ethan didn't move.
33:30She finally panicked.
33:32I was only filtering the comms by procedure.
33:34Ethan signed off too.
33:35Why is it suddenly all my fault?
33:37The color left Ethan's face.
33:38I looked at him.
33:39She's right.
33:40You signed.
33:41The room went still.
33:44Ethan rose slowly.
33:45Yes.
33:46This, I signed.
33:47But I signed what I believed was mission procedure,
33:50not burying a mother's dying words for her.
33:53Mia cried out.
33:54So now you're cutting yourself out of this?
33:56He said quietly.
33:58I can't cut myself out.
33:59I'm just finally admitting that I'm guilty too.
34:02Choice.
34:03The word finally left his mouth.
34:04So what had hurt me was never just the deception.
34:07It was his choice.
34:10Ethan began investigating Mia.
34:14He dug up old access chains, emails, sign-off sheets,
34:20seeing, page by page, the cracks he'd missed.
34:24He came to me, eyes red.
34:28She deceived me.
34:31I said.
34:32No.
34:33She fed you a lie you were happy to swallow.
34:38He went rogered.
34:39She said I didn't want to come back.
34:41You believed her.
34:44She said I was unstable.
34:45You believed her.
34:47She said it was all for my own good,
34:49and you believed that too.
34:51Ethan said under his breath.
34:53I was just so lonely.
34:54I looked at him.
34:55So you used my pain to fill your loneliness?
34:59His tears fell.
35:02Eve, I'm sorry.
35:03Ethan said.
35:05I'll make it up to you.
35:07I laughed.
35:08Make it up?
35:09Can you make my mom answer that call?
35:12Can you make me have known three years ago that she was gone?
35:15He looked drained of all strength.
35:17No.
35:17I nodded.
35:18Then don't dress up compensation as love.
35:21Ethan brought an old insulated box.
35:23Apple pie, he said, made from my mother's recipe.
35:28When the box opened, the sweetness wafted out, but my stomach turned sour.
35:33He said,
35:34I remember this was your favorite.
35:36I looked at the not-quite-pretty pie.
35:38What I loved was the one my mom made.
35:41Not one you recreated out of guilt.
35:47His fingers froze.
35:50I'm sorry.
35:52I pushed the box back.
35:53Stop knocking on my door with those words.
35:56Ethan, every time you come, I have to remember all over again how you stood outside that door and listened
36:02to her call me crazy.
36:03He hugged the box back to his chest, like a man holding a funeral that had come too late.
36:09Ethan lingered at the door a long time, then finally asked.
36:15Can I still call you Eve?
36:17I said, don't use that name.
36:19It sounds like the old me.
36:21The one who'd still wait for you.
36:23I felt nothing.
36:25Sorry is too cheap.
36:27Too cheap to buy back even my mother's last phone call.
36:36The full call was restored before the third round of hearings.
36:41My mother lay in the hospital bed.
36:44Her voice is faint as a breeze.
36:46Eve, if you can hear me, mom doesn't blame you.
36:50The nurse asked.
36:52Do you want to put in another request?
36:54Mother smiled.
36:55Never mind.
36:56She's doing important work.
36:57Don't distract her.
36:59A moment later, the system displayed the outcome.
37:01Family critically ill, not mission essential.
37:03Processed by Mia Varnes.
37:05I finally broke, crouching down with a hand over my mouth.
37:08Ethan tried to stable me.
37:09I shoved him away.
37:10Don't touch me.
37:11He knelt in front of me, his voice breaking.
37:13I didn't know she'd buried even this.
37:15After the recording ended, only the faint hum of instruments was left in the hall.
37:20Mia kept her head down, afraid to look at me.
37:23I looked at her.
37:24You heard it all, didn't you?
37:26Maya's lips trembled.
37:27I said, you heard my mother say she didn't blame me and then you buried those words yourself
37:31for three years.
37:32When the full message played a second time, I suddenly caught my mother coughing in the
37:35background.
37:36Faint, yet it seemed to travel three years to slam into my chest.
37:39She said,
37:40As a child, she dreaded coming home to an empty house.
37:42Please tell her.
37:43Mom never blamed her.
37:45My knees gave out.
37:46Noah moved to help.
37:47I shook my head and knelt on the cold floor, burying my face in my hands.
37:50Mia finally cried.
37:51I was scared too.
37:52The Vons were already carrying the blame for the accident.
37:54I couldn't let the mission take another hit.
37:55I looked up.
37:57So my mother was supposed to die quietly to keep things tidy for you?
38:00She couldn't answer.
38:02Ethan started to say my name.
38:03I turned to him.
38:04You heard it too.
38:04She spent her last breath making excuses for me and you used her gentleness as a gag.
38:08The system displayed one more line of records.
38:11Next of kin critical condition request processed by Mia Vaughn.
38:14Non-mission essential review.
38:15Signed off by Ethan Hale.
38:16The blood drained from Ethan's face in an instant.
38:19I looked at him.
38:20You said you didn't know.
38:21But it's your name sitting under my mother's last phone call.
38:24He opened his mouth but couldn't get out a single word.
38:27I looked up at him.
38:28You're crying now because it's finally your turn to hurt.
38:37She couldn't answer.
38:38Ethan started to say my name.
38:39I turned to him.
38:40You heard it too.
38:41She spent her last breath making excuses for me and you used her gentleness as a gag.
38:44The system displayed one line of records.
38:45Next of skid critical essential line review.
38:47Non-mission off by Ethan Hale.
38:49The blood drained from Ethan's face in an instant.
38:51I looked at him.
38:52Sensing Ethan waver, Mia stormed into his office.
38:56She sobbed.
38:57Now you destroy me for her?
39:00Ethan who was by your side these three years?
39:04Ethan didn't pull her into his arms the way he used to.
39:07Something shifted in Mia's eyes.
39:10My father can have you removed from the flight control chair for good.
39:14Ethan said quietly.
39:16So all these years this is how you've kept everyone quiet?
39:19I'm protecting you.
39:21Those were words he'd once said for her.
39:23Countless times.
39:24I stood outside the door and heard a long silence inside.
39:27Ethan said at last.
39:29I'll testify.
39:30Mia laughed.
39:30You think she'll forgive you?
39:32You just lost with me and now you want to beg your way back to her?
39:35When Ethan came out, I didn't hide.
39:38We looked at each other across the corridor.
39:40He said,
39:41I won't shield her this time.
39:43I said,
39:44You're saying it too late.
39:46His eyes reddened.
39:47It's not that you should let go because she's no longer worth protecting.
39:51It's that from the very start, I should never have been put on trial alongside her.
39:58Even as he was led away, Chairman Vaughn kept his composure.
40:02Commander Carter, politics isn't as simple as you think.
40:06I said,
40:07I know.
40:07You call your lies politics, your favorness, stability, and a mother's death not mission
40:13essential.
40:13He turned to Ethan.
40:14Will you really stand by and watch her tear down the whole system?
40:18Ethan stepped to my side and this time he didn't hesitate.
40:21What's being torn down isn't the system.
40:23It's the hands you hid inside it.
40:25I didn't thank him.
40:26Taking my side this late was like oxygen arriving too late.
40:29It can save a life, but it can't prove the suffocation never happened.
40:33When I heard those words, there was no relief in my chest, only a fatigue that had come too
40:37late.
40:38Someone had finally stood on my side, yet could no longer pull me out of those three years
40:42of darkness.
40:44This time, she was half right.
40:47At the second hearing, Ethan took the witness stand.
40:51He said,
40:52I knew the comms were anomalous and that Mia had excessive access.
40:56I didn't pursue it.
40:58The committee asked,
40:59Why?
40:59Ethan looked at me, his eyes bloodshot.
41:01Because I favored her.
41:02Because she stayed with me, comforted me, made me believe I was the one who'd been abandoned.
41:07Mia said,
41:08Ethan!
41:08And he went on.
41:09I enjoyed that version.
41:10It made my betrayal less ugly.
41:12The room erupted.
41:13I stayed calm.
41:14Truth, this late is like medicine too late.
41:17It proves the wound is real, but it can't make it heal.
41:19Ethan stepped down and started to call out to me.
41:21After the hearing, Ethan caught up with me in the hallway.
41:23Evelyn, it was always you I loved.
41:25You loved me, but you put me as tears ahead of my evidence.
41:28Ethan, your love is so good at waiting in line that my turn never comes.
41:31Ethan chased me to the parking lot, rain soaking his shoulders.
41:34He said,
41:36I know you won't forgive me, but from today, I want to stand behind you.
41:40I turned back, holding my umbrella.
41:42You stood behind me before, too.
41:43His eyes lit up, then dimmed just as fast.
41:45I said,
41:46The difference is, back then I thought you'd catch me.
41:48Later, I realized you stood there just to see whether I'd hit Mia.
41:51The rain was loud, but he seemed to catch every word.
41:53Evelyn.
41:54He said,
41:55Have I really lost you?
41:57Not now.
41:57I said,
41:58You lost me the first time you made me apologize to her.
42:01He took two steps after me, then stopped,
42:03as if he'd finally understood that catching up wasn't the same as winning me back.
42:06Rain ran off his jaw,
42:07and for the first time, he didn't try to explain himself.
42:10I walked past him and didn't stop.
42:13Temp adjourned.
42:15I followed the staff back through the corridor and into the hall.
42:19Mia was already seated in the witness stand,
42:21her eyes fixed anxiously on the doorway.
42:24Still waiting for Ethan to come to her rescue,
42:27she jabbed a finger at me.
42:28I only made her look unstable.
42:30Once she loses control,
42:32every piece of evidence gets doubted.
42:34What's wrong with that?
42:35I said,
42:36so that whisper back at the start was deliberate.
42:40She laughed until she shook.
42:43Your mother is your weak spot.
42:44So is Ethan.
42:46I know you far too well.
42:49Ethan went pale.
42:52Mia said,
42:54My brother made one mistake,
42:55but you had to make the whole world remember it.
42:58The Vaunts can't be only the people who erred.
43:00We needed a hero too.
43:02I looked at her.
43:03So you took my mother,
43:04my love,
43:06my credit,
43:07all to pave your family's road.
43:09At last,
43:10she had nothing to say.
43:11As she was led away,
43:13Mia suddenly turned back.
43:15So what if you win?
43:16Your mother won't come back,
43:18and Ethan's tainted now too.
43:19I said,
43:20I'm not doing this to beat you.
43:23I'm doing it to prove
43:24you can't rewrite a living person out of existence.
43:30Mia's final statement was made public.
43:32She sat in the interrogation room,
43:34her makeup ruined,
43:35yet her back still straight.
43:36She said,
43:37I don't regret protecting the Vaunts.
43:39Evelyn has won everything since we were children.
43:41She has no idea what losing feels like.
43:43The investigator asked,
43:44So you tampered with her communications with her mother?
43:47Mia was silent a long time,
43:49then suddenly laughed.
43:53She trusted me too much.
43:56The spare key was in my hands,
43:57the next of kin access was in my hands,
44:00and Ethan was at my side,
44:01in my place.
44:02Wouldn't you have been tempted?
44:03The video stopped there.
44:05Ethan stood before the screen
44:07as if he'd been slapped in front of everyone.
44:10I turned it off.
44:11Now you know,
44:12it wasn't a one-time lapse in judgment.
44:15I know.
44:16No.
44:16I said,
44:18you knew a little all along.
44:21You just liked the gray area,
44:23where that little bit
44:24still wasn't enough to condemn her.
44:26This time,
44:27Ethan didn't shield her.
44:28He just stood there,
44:30as if he'd finally seen
44:31that what he'd been protecting all along
44:33was a knife.
44:36Samuel Vaunt was formally placed under investigation.
44:39The evidence showed he'd used his high office
44:41to lock down the black box,
44:43interfere with the first-class commendation ruling,
44:45suppress next-of-kin communications,
44:46and push for a psychiatric evaluation of me.
44:49Mia was suspended,
44:50and the entire commendation file
44:52was reopened for review.
44:53Vaughn the Elder
44:54was cornered by reporters outside the committee
44:56for the first time.
44:57The once-untouchable man
44:59was forced back by the camera flashes.
45:01A reporter pressed,
45:02Mr. Chairman,
45:03did you personally approve
45:03the hero campaign
45:04and the shifting of blame?
45:05He didn't answer.
45:06The media began to change their tune,
45:08calling me the true rescuer
45:09of the Mars project.
45:10I gave no interviews.
45:11I just went to my mother's grave.
45:13The headstone was clean,
45:14an apple pie set beside it.
45:16I crouched down.
45:17Mom, I'm sorry.
45:19I came home too late.
45:20At the grave,
45:21I finally played the full call.
45:23The wind was soft,
45:24and so was my mother's voice on the recording.
45:27I said,
45:29Mom, I'm home.
45:30This time I'm really not leaving.
45:31I cried until I couldn't stand.
45:33Noah kept his distance
45:34and didn't rush me.
45:35The wind moved through the cemetery,
45:37and it was as if
45:38I'd finally crashed back to Earth
45:40from the far side of Mars.
45:43This time no one could edit out my crying,
45:46and no one could rewrite my grief
45:48into a mission summary.
45:49Ethan stood at a distance,
45:51never coming closer.
45:53After a long while,
45:54he set an umbrella down by the roadside
45:56and stepped back into the rain.
45:58Noah asked,
45:59Want me to tell him to leave?
46:01I shook my head.
46:02No, let him stand there.
46:04Some of that cold, he's earned.
46:06I laid that belated honor notice
46:07at her grave, unopened.
46:09More than any medal,
46:11I wanted her to know
46:13I hadn't forgotten the way home
46:17and that I never truly abandoned her.
46:21Ethan came to the cemetery too.
46:23He didn't come close.
46:25He just stood far off.
46:27Later, he handed me a letter.
46:29It read,
46:30I owe your mother an explanation,
46:32and I owe you my trust.
46:33I finished reading,
46:35folded the letter,
46:36and handed it back to him.
46:37He said,
46:38I'll wait for you.
46:39I said,
46:39Don't.
46:40His eyes reddened.
46:41I really do love you.
46:44When you should have loved me most,
46:46you chose to believe Mia.
46:48It was as if those words nailed him in place.
46:50I went on.
46:51It's not me you're chasing now.
46:53It's the possibility
46:54that I might still forgive you.
46:57Ethan said,
46:59I'll resign.
46:59I looked at him.
47:00Resigning isn't a sacrifice.
47:02I don't need you to destroy yourself
47:04to prove your love.
47:05He whispered,
47:06What else can I do?
47:07I answered,
47:08Live.
47:08And remember.
47:09Remember how you didn't believe me.
47:14Ethan began compiling all the evidence
47:17into a public file.
47:18With every document he added,
47:20he emailed me.
47:21Only the facts.
47:22Never the longing.
47:23I didn't reply,
47:24but I read every one.
47:25Not because I still loved him,
47:27but because I needed to confirm
47:28he'd finally learned to respect the truth.
47:31One night,
47:32he sent a final message.
47:33I'll hand Mia over to the investigation team,
47:36and I won't plead for any leniency for her again.
47:40I sent back one line.
47:42This is what you owe the truth.
47:44Not me.
47:45A few minutes later,
47:46he replied,
47:47I know.
47:49The second line came much later,
47:50but I still owe you a lifetime.
47:52I turned off the screen.
47:53This time,
47:54I didn't soften,
47:55and I didn't look back.
48:00That night,
48:01I dreamed of the return capsome
48:02tearing through the atmosphere.
48:03The flames were bright.
48:05I no longer looked toward the command station.
48:08I only heard my own voice.
48:10Return procedure nominal.
48:11Ethan bowed his head and,
48:13at last,
48:14stopped pleading.
48:15I knew the burning had truly begun.
48:17He'd finally understood.
48:19He had no right to rush in
48:21and put out the fire.
48:24The Mars program's old systems
48:25were in crisis again.
48:27The orbital station had lost attitude control,
48:29and someone fluent in the old manual protocols
48:31was needed to take over remotely.
48:33The deputy administrator said to me,
48:34Commander Carter,
48:35you can refuse.
48:38Ethan rushed into the control room.
48:40Her body can't take him.
48:41I looked at the red alert on the screen.
48:43This time,
48:44no one is forcing me to stay.
48:45Ethan's voice shook.
48:47Evelyn,
48:47it's my choice.
48:48He finally stepped back
48:50to the flight control desk
48:51and stopped deciding for me.
48:53When the link came up,
48:55he said,
48:56Private channel,
48:57triple backed up.
48:58No one can alter it.
49:00I watched the data stream.
49:01Do your job.
49:02At the most dangerous point of the rescue,
49:04Ethan's voice came through the headset.
49:07I trust your judgment.
49:08I stared at the spinning orbital map,
49:10my fingertips unnervingly stable.
49:12I'd waited three years to hear that line.
49:15Hearing it now,
49:16I only felt it had finally clicked into place,
49:18like a screw that arrived too late.
49:20When the new crisis hit,
49:21everyone turned to me.
49:23The same people who'd once called me emotionally unstable
49:25now waited for my orders.
49:27I said,
49:27Thruster 3 to manual.
49:29Life support to the backup loop.
49:30Don't wait for ground approval.
49:32Someone hesitated.
49:33After the Vaughn case,
49:34procedural review is strict.
49:36I looked at him.
49:37Procedure exists to save lives,
49:38not to make the living wait to die.
49:40In the headset,
49:41Ethan didn't cut in.
49:42He just lit up every open permission for me,
49:45one by one.
49:45His message appeared on the screen.
49:47You command.
49:48I'll stay out of the way.
49:49I didn't reply.
49:50But in that moment,
49:51I knew he'd finally learned
49:53the most basic thing about love.
49:55Don't make the decisions for me.
49:57This time,
49:58he didn't speak of love or beg forgiveness.
50:00He just kept verifying the comes link
50:02over and over.
50:03Trust that came too late
50:04no longer traded for my turning back.
50:08After the rescue succeeded,
50:09the Mars program's files were re-exaliated.
50:11My name was restored
50:13to the first class commendation record,
50:14and that mistake was written back
50:16into the accident report.
50:17Mia was prosecuted
50:17for tampering with communications,
50:19leakering private medical data,
50:20and facifying mission records.
50:22Vaughn the Elder fell,
50:23and several officials were suspended.
50:26Ethan resigned as flight director.
50:28He returned the Moondust pendant to me.
50:30There was no ring in the box.
50:34He said,
50:36I'm not asking you to come back.
50:40I only want to return what's yours.
50:43I took the pendant.
50:46Then this is where it ends.
50:48The light in his eyes shattered.
50:54I'll wait,
50:55however long it takes.
50:58Life has its return windows too.
51:02Once you miss one,
51:03you shouldn't keep trapping each other.
51:10A year later,
51:12I was promoted to head
51:13of deep space mission training.
51:15At the ceremony,
51:17the host read out my name.
51:19Evelyn Carter,
51:21lead operator behind the full crew survival
51:24of the Mars mission.
51:28As the applause rose,
51:30I didn't look at Ethan.
51:35I looked at the row of young astronauts
51:37in the training center.
51:39They would fly further than I ever had,
51:42and I would teach them
51:44that no mission is worth the cost
51:45of silencing a single voice.
51:48After the ceremony,
51:49someone asked me,
51:50Commander Carter,
51:50do you still want to go back to space?
51:53I looked up at the launch tower.
51:55Of course.
51:56But next time,
51:57it won't be to return to anyone's side.
51:58Press ask where accept Ethan's apology.
52:00He can apologize,
52:01and I can choose not to accept it.
52:03Do you still believe in love?
52:04Someone else asked.
52:06I looked out the window
52:07at the young trainees.
52:09I do.
52:10But love shouldn't demand
52:12that someone stay silent,
52:14and it shouldn't dress up favoritism
52:15as protection.
52:17Ethan stood at the edge of the crowd.
52:19Hearing that,
52:19he slowly lowered his head.
52:21I didn't look away from his gaze.
52:22I simply closed my hand
52:24around the pendant.
52:25It wasn't a relic of an old love.
52:27It was the self I reclaimed
52:28from their lies.
52:29I'm going back for myself.
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