"That's one of the most popular theories going around," I reply with a knowing tilt of my head. "The rub is why. Well, why and how. You've got all these people here who are from -- Or at least believe they're from disparate times and places. That's the big mystery, how they got us all together here. But they've fed us enough to confirm we're being watched." I pause in my scrubbing to glance back up at her. "And it's the only thing that really makes sense."

And good on her, really, for even knowing what a Skinner Box is, even if it means her time here is bound to be that much less ignorantly blissful.

"I'm Mark, by the way. Watney. Apparently also known as The Plant Guy."