The signal from the Mars colony stopped.
We tried to connect to the emergency relay satellites, but they didn’t respond.
It took a month to prepare a rocket to launch.
And several months for it to reach Mars orbit.
Long-range photos revealed nothing.
Several probes landed nearby, releasing drones and crawlers to investigate.
One went through a hangar bay, passed through an airlock, and rolled through the empty hallways.
And then, it reached the auditorium.
Hundreds of chairs, neatly arranged, a body sitting in each of them.
Were they… smiling?
Facing a podium with the chief administrator slumped over it.