Meg had returned to her seat back in the astrotarium. She had a case in her hand that needs to be solved. She wanted to know what had happened eighty years ago. She felt she had seen the man before. There was some kind of connection. She must have seen him somewhere before.
"Like hell , I would know someone from atleast eighty years ago. "
But what clawed at her mind was why was there a failed mission unreported by the centre. Why no one talked about it? Did they just conveniently forget a man in space? She had searched through the previous records in the library and nothing matched with the mission. Although she did find an article related to Codex_A10 but that was all about the government's plan to create a new system called Codex_A10 to launch into outer space.Nothing else. She doesn't even know whether the system they are referring to is the one that is in front of her eyes right now. She is supposed to investigate and submit a report on her findings and It's as doable as giving someone a fork to drink their soup.
Since everyone's running around near the man and holding a press meet to discuss the situation, she had been left alone in her room with the tapes. And since she had nothing better to do she started playing the second recording.
The system whizzed again. A strange purer and static noises. Meg feared the system may blow up if there was overheating so she had given it a 15 minute cool down time.But now she feared she will have to waste her 5 minutes everytime the system restarts.
"Playing Recording two..."
Again some static noises. On the screen she could see a torso and a hand trying to adjust the camera.
The man sat back in his chair. He stared into the camera. But Meg felt like he was talking to her. They were at eye level. He was kind of blushing.
"Hey Meg, I just remembered the first time we met. You think we probably think we met at that coffee shop for the first time isn't it? I always told you that I think I knew from before that. You thought it was my pickup line but I seriously meant it. You still probably think that but now I remembered it. If this video ever reaches you ,know that the first time I met you was near the bridge where we had our first date. I don't know if you remember this,but one time you were finding the fishes in the lake below, a guy had crashed into a cyclist behind you. It was the guy's fault. He wasn't looking at the road while walking. He was looking at a beautiful sad woman by the bridge. That guy had never seen such a beautiful woman in his entire life. Her hair that became golden due to the sunset falling on it. She was like an angel but her eyes were sad. She wasn't really feeding the fishes below. She had something else on her mind.
The guy was wondering why was she so sad? Why would such a beautiful person be sad? Should I go see if she is single? And that's exactly why he never looked at the road and the cycle in the front.
The cyclist fell on top of me along with the cycle. People gathered to help us. I saw you leaving.You never looked at me. You just couldn't be bothered with the chaos in front of you. I wanted to get up and run after you but the cycle pressed on top of me and I broke my knee. They took me to the hospital and I was almost sure I had lost my chance to meet you.
I slowly returned to my life and slowly forget about you.
But when I saw you at the coffee shop, sitting by yourself near the window, the sunset falling on to your face this time, I thought about the time when the accident happened. I had my doubts it was you but it would have been too much of a coincidence if it was really you. I had seen you for hardly a minute that day and I was not sure to ask you whether you have fed fish in your lifetime . Wouldn't it be funny if a random person comes and ask you, "Hey, have you ever fed the fish in the lake downtown like about a year ago?" You would have called the police on me. "
The man on the screen started laughing. Meg found it funny too. She half smiled.
"But I didn't want to miss this chance" He said suddenly serious." I had missed my chance a year ago by the bridge and I had promised myself that if I feel this way once again, I will never let that chance go. And so I came up to ask you out with my question and also a very famous pick up line" The man on screen raised a brow and leaned forward. With a smirk on his face, he said with a deep voice "Have we met before?"
Meg laughed. She felt she was blushing. This was a very cheesy line and the way he said it was very funny.
" The rest is history. You know, I really loved you. I still do. And I always will. I never thought I would end up here that day and neither did you. I still feel we had so many moments we could have loved each other. If I could have held your hand one more time, If I could have kissed you one more time, If I could have hugged you one more time, if I could tell you how much I loved you one more time,. I would have taken all the chances. So if you someone sees this,please show this to Meg and tell her I love her. And Meg, if someone was kind enough to show you this, know that I love you. And if we ever meet again which is highly unlikely,I would still be blown away by your beauty like the first time I saw you.
Even if you are no longer the young woman I knew or you are now a grandma with grandkids, I would just be happy knowing that you lived a happy life. That you lived loving and being loved . And that's what I wanted to say to you."
There it was again. The small glint of tear on his eyes. They were damp and sad. His lips were smiling but the eyes gave it all away. Meg felt sad too. She had read expeditions where humans have to stay in outer space for a good amount of time,losing away their years on earth. It was the main reason the new research procedure banned using humans and instead used humanoids.
Meg knew that the guy on the screen will lose his good years and from the looks of it , he never got to see his Meg again. She wondered if that woman was still alive or anyone from her legacy was. When all this was over, she may even lookout for Meg,if she was crazy enough.
The recording had stopped and she switched off the system. She needed a coffee again. Now this was starting to become interesting. She wanted to know more about this guy on the screen. And now Meg decided the guy on the screen had a name. Even though everyone forgot, she decided the guy needs to keep his name. And that name is what she would call him once ,no,if he wakes up.Theo.