The soft humming of the air filtration system, a rhythmic beep in the background. A calm and old voice rises up from the seat next to me  “How do you feel about going back after all these years?” “going back? Well we’ve heard the stories right? I guess a lot has changed since we left.”

My pupils briefly move to the upper right corner of my eyes while I remember how we had a video call with one of our sons and grand-child. He just bought a house with his girlfriend and they gave us a house-tour. He smiled and explained to me how old-school it felt to hold someone inside a screen, walking them around the house to give the tour. It reminded him to the years when he met his girlfriend, the years before the big surge in hologram-technology, the years in which this craft was built.

After a short silence I open my mouth and say “well, I think not only the technology on earth has improved, but humans themselves also significantly developed their way of relating to the forces of nature and life in general, it feels like we are finally maturing”

You start laughing “well isn’t it wonderful that this is happening simultaneously with our own bodies and minds growing older? That way we can be sure that we are on the same level as them when we get back”

“well let’s hope so…”

 

I feel my back being pushed into the seat as the rockets of the spacecraft are reducing our velocity. The dashboard shows me that my heartrate is within the right boundaries, I look to the right of the hearth monitor and I see our altitude decreasing: 1000… 500.. 200.. 100.. 50.. a light bump and we are back on earth. We start cheering and clapping together with the rows of astronauts sitting behind us. I tell my husband how much I have been looking forward to finally hugging our two sons again after almost 23 years.

 

As we are one-by-one stepping out of this relatively old piece of technology I see how a group of people in white full-body suits is walking towards us. Another group is emptying the cargo which contains samples and experiments we’ve loaded onto the craft 9 months ago when we left mars.

 

23 years, I’ve been looking forward to hugging my sons and grandchildren again, but where are they?

As the people in white suits are guiding me and the other astronauts to a room inside the ship I tell my husband how I underestimated the difficulty of walking on earth after all these months in space. “well, darling you know we are more like space pirates than real pirates, no sea legs here” he responded while pointing down to his shaky legs.

 

As the people are taking place on the seats I look around the room. Looking through the large windows I see the horizon slowly alternating its angle and small waves rising and passing away in the ocean around us. A man walks into the room, he is wearing a suit, but not a white full body suit. This time it’s a dark blue tuxedo which seems to have a little glow around it, but this might as well be my eyes fooling me while they try to adapt themselves to all the light shining through the windows.  I notice that the man has a small bright blue logo on his chest. My old eye’s aren’t fully capable of making sense of the logo but it looks like something I have seen when I looked up to the sun during a solar eclipse, a black hole with bright spikes sticking out of it.

 

The man starts speaking with a voice that seems to come from all directions “Good afternoon dear astronauts, welcome back from your explorative missions to mars. For some of you this is the first time being on earth, and for others it will feel like being home again. But you all know that a lot has changed here on earth. That is why we have set up a program that will help you reintegrate back into society. Some of you might be wondering when they can finally see their family again. The answer to this is that you first have to be equipped with olfa-tech in order to mingle with your family and other crowds.” He taps his finger on the wing of his nose while using his other hand to grab something out of his pocket. An object looking similar to a role of masking tape appears as he continues to explain: “On this role there are more than a hundred olfa-tech devices, these are equipped with sensors which will be able to detect even the tiniest amounts of viruses floating through the air. When the amount of viruses in the air approaches the danger threshold the device will stimulate the nerve endings in your nose, giving you the sensation of a very peculiar sour smell. The more viruses the more intense the smell will be. Oh and don’t worry about the battery, the device is powered by E-Stirling panels which generate energy from the difference in temperature between your skin and the air you breath in. So as long as you keep breathing there won’t be any problems. In a few minutes the staff will help you place the olfa-tech sensors inside your nose. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attention and may technology be with you. ”  The man’s body faded away into an opaque blue silhouette and I looked at my husband with a slightly puzzled expression on my face.

After one of the people in a white suit explained the procedure to me I put the device on the top of my finger with the sticky side up and placed it on the inside of my nose. I hear a very nasal voice coming from the chair next to me, and with one finger still inside his nose I hear my husband saying “well what a warm welcome, after 23 years I’m back on earth and the first thing they want me to do is to pick my nose.” I laugh and tell him “Honey, it is what it is, life-saving technology can’t always be fancy”