diff --git a/sphinx-key/src/conn/mqtt.rs b/sphinx-key/src/conn/mqtt.rs
index b0ffe03..474c56c 100644
--- a/sphinx-key/src/conn/mqtt.rs
+++ b/sphinx-key/src/conn/mqtt.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use crate::core::events::{Message, MSG_SIZE};
+use crate::core::events::Message;
 
 use embedded_svc::event_bus::Postbox;
 use embedded_svc::mqtt::client::utils::ConnState;
@@ -39,15 +39,6 @@ pub fn make_client(broker: &str) -> Result<(
     Ok(cc)
 }
 
-fn slice_to_arr(v: &[u8]) -> [u8; MSG_SIZE] {
-    let mut buf = [0; MSG_SIZE];
-    let l = if v.len() < MSG_SIZE { v.len() } else { MSG_SIZE };
-    for i in 0..l {
-        buf[i] = v[i]
-    }
-    buf
-}
-
 pub fn start_listening(
     mqtt: Arc<Mutex<EspMqttClient<ConnState<MessageImpl, EspError>>>>,
     mut connection: MqttConnection<Condvar, MessageImpl, EspError>, 
@@ -63,9 +54,10 @@ pub fn start_listening(
                 Err(e) => info!("MQTT Message ERROR: {}", e),
                 Ok(msg) => {
                     if let Event::Received(msg) = msg {
-                        let d = slice_to_arr(msg.data().as_ref());
-                        if let Err(e) = eventloop.post(&Message::new(d), None) {
-                            warn!("failed to post to eventloop {:?}", e);
+                        if let Ok(m) = Message::new_from_slice(&msg.data()) {
+                            if let Err(e) = eventloop.post(&m, None) {
+                                warn!("failed to post to eventloop {:?}", e);
+                            }
                         }
                         info!("MQTT Message: {:?}", msg);
                     }
diff --git a/sphinx-key/src/core/events.rs b/sphinx-key/src/core/events.rs
index 72acc0a..879a9e8 100644
--- a/sphinx-key/src/core/events.rs
+++ b/sphinx-key/src/core/events.rs
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ use esp_idf_svc::mqtt::client::*;
 use esp_idf_sys::EspError;
 use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex};
 use log::*;
+use std::cmp::min;
 
 pub const MSG_SIZE: usize = 256;
 
@@ -16,14 +17,30 @@ pub const MSG_SIZE: usize = 256;
 pub struct Message([u8; MSG_SIZE]);
 
 impl Message {
-    pub fn new(bytes: [u8; MSG_SIZE]) -> Self {
+    pub fn _new(bytes: [u8; MSG_SIZE]) -> Self {
         Self(bytes)
     }
+    // the first byte is the length of the message
+    pub fn new_from_slice(src: &[u8]) -> std::result::Result<Self, anyhow::Error> {
+        if src.len() > MSG_SIZE - 1 {
+            return Err(anyhow::anyhow!("message too long"));
+        }
+        let mut dest = [0; MSG_SIZE];
+        dest[0] = src.len() as u8;
+        for i in 0..min(src.len(), MSG_SIZE) {
+            dest[i+1] = src[i];
+        }
+        Ok(Self(dest))
+    }
+    pub fn read_bytes(&self) -> Vec<u8> {
+        let l = self.0[0] as usize;
+        self.0[1..l+1].to_vec()
+    }
 }
 
 impl EspTypedEventSource for Message {
     fn source() -> *const c_types::c_char {
-        b"DEMO-SERVICE\0".as_ptr() as *const _
+        b"SPHINX\0".as_ptr() as *const _
     }
 }
 
@@ -54,12 +71,14 @@ pub fn make_eventloop(client: Arc<Mutex<EspMqttClient<ConnState<MessageImpl, Esp
     info!("About to subscribe to the background event loop");
     let subscription = eventloop.subscribe(move |message: &Message| {
         info!("!!! Got message from the event loop"); //: {:?}", message.0);
+        let msg = message.read_bytes();
+        let msg_str = String::from_utf8_lossy(&msg[..]);
         match client.lock() {
             Ok(mut m_) => if let Err(err) = m_.publish(
                 RETURN_TOPIC,
                 QoS::AtMostOnce,
                 false,
-                "The processed message: ***".as_bytes(),
+                format!("The processed message: {}", msg_str).as_bytes(),
             ) {
                 log::warn!("failed to mqtt publish! {:?}", err);
             },
diff --git a/sphinx-key/src/core/mod.rs b/sphinx-key/src/core/mod.rs
index 401876e..dafb93a 100644
--- a/sphinx-key/src/core/mod.rs
+++ b/sphinx-key/src/core/mod.rs
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 pub mod events;
-pub mod config;
\ No newline at end of file
+pub mod config;