Issue 23, Page 20
Transcript
1: Xijo stands alone in a small, private apartment. Standing near his bead, he leans against a wall, which has a large display of multicolored moss. The ceiling of the room has vents which keep the room at a more comfortable air pressure and composition for martians.
2: A small plaque beneath the moss explains that it is imported Martian moss. Xijo’s bare hand strokes against it. The door bell beeps.
*beep beep*
3: Xijo now stands by a window to his room. Hitting a button, a metal shade is sliding upwards.
4: Through the window, Vidali is revealed! She is holding a paper bag with the logo of a bagel shop. Behind her is seen the a hallway – this is still underground.
Xijo: Vidali Dara?
Vidali: Let me in, loser!
5: Vidali now stands in an airlock. Bag set down on a small bench, she’s adjusting a breathing mask to her face.
Xijo (through a speaker): I thank you for coming to see me.
Vidali: Got another top secret delivery for you!
Xijo: More, ah, ‘pizza’?
Vildai: Not for breakfast, silly.
Pumpernickel?
Here’s hoping the composition is kind to Dr. Xijo’s martian intestines and doesn’t result in the reason behind pumpernickel’s namesake (lit. “fart devil”).
Hmmm. The decorations are red, as one might expect from an inhabitant of real-life Mars, yet Mars in this setting is a green (at least when seen from Earth without a telescope) planet.