Chapter Text
Grace POV
Learning a Musical Language was actually pretty easy, Ryland found.
By the time the BioDome was built, he'd found himself relying on his voice to text translators less and less. Especially once he'd started teaching science to the Pebbles.
It was such a good life, one Ryland was already missing dearly.
After about 3 years on Erid, Adrien, Rocky and their team of scientists and engineers have built a fleet of ships dedicated to saving as many stars as possible.
Each ship being named after one of the students Grace taught on Earth, with five in total; Emma, Carter, Jacob, Katie, Jay, and the Captain's Ship; Abby.
Grace asking to come along on the first expedition, not to head home to Earth, No. He'd made his choice to stay on Erid long ago (in the second month he'd arrived, actually) But to give Space one last hurrah(or maybe this was an attempt at exposure therapy?) before retiring from it entierly.
The Captain's ship's Goal being to save 3 planet-bearing stars, before returning back to the beautiful world of Erid. A trip that would take about 5 years, this side of the galaxy. So far from Earth that it held locations like Tatooine, Pandora, and Arrakis. (All aptly named by Yours Truly; Dr. Ryland Grace, Of Course!) Small, at least plant and fish(?) bearing planets. That while unfortunately didn't hold the fantastical sentient lifeforms on them like their namesakes: were none the less interesting.
But their stars needed a little Taumoeba Vaccine, so whatever lives they did form? Wouldn't be lost before they could even start.
Each ship was still a massive instrument to Grace. And even after all this time and helping with building ways for him to get around and communicate on the 'Abby'- he still has not a single clue what the hell he's looking at or how most of this stuff works. He knows the harpstrings on the walls are meant as Radios for the Eridians, (and how to use that, of course) and that despite the.. "Open Concept" feeling with space, The Eridians can still maintain their own atmosphere and survive..and that is it.
And, ya know, How the entire Hail Mary Ship has been Eridian-Skilled remodeled and welded to the underside of the Captain Ship to give him his own whole area to make the Taumoeba, and have a little bit of Privacy on occasion. It was essentially a "Space Apartment" complete with an open concept kitchen (Eridians do not turn off the gravitiy in their ships, that would severely warp its functions, apparently.) To the left of the entrance, a bedroom, a bathroom with a toilet and shower, and in one big room a mixed living room and lab space, cut off from the kitchen by it's counter. A cozy little couch facing a window to the endless expanse outside in the center of the room.
Nothing like how the Hail Mary used to look. That ship was basically scrapped and it's materials used or reverse engineered to make this place.
And also like, a million times better than Ryland's own apartment on Earth or his dorm at NASA. The Eridians really did like to spoil him a bit, it was an odd experience, to go from Some Guy to a Microbiologist to a Middle School Teacher to Martyr...
To what was very nearly a Pet of Aliens.
Of course, Rocky never really thought of him like that. Adrien too, probably...and probably also the team on the ship that let him wander on his own and actually participate in their mission's functions.
Except flying the ship.
At Grace's request. (He never wanted to Pilot Anything, Ever Again. Thanks.)
He never really sought to use the privacy offered and granted either. (Despite being really grateful to Adrien for thinking of his needs like that) He never really found himself wanting to be alone.
Space is really quiet alone. Even when you're on a massive instrument of a spaceship with very chatty, rock-crab aliens.
...He didn't like the quiet.
Which is probably what woke him up from his sleep.
Because the lack of any kind of song was always one hell of an Omen, in Eridian Culture.
And it also meant that Rocky wasn't in his suit taking watch, and something more important took his attention outside of Ryland's section of the ship.
Grace got up, dressed, into his oxygen suit, and through the airlock into the main ship very quickly.
Nearly tripping over Rocky as he hurdled through the door once it opened.
"Ow! Ow! Grace stepped on Rocky foot! Ow!"
At Rocky's indignant hums, Ryland felt his waking anxiety flush out of him. Literally taking him to his knees as he chuckled his apologies, patting Rocky on the head to both comfort the Eridian and himself, despite not actually being able to feel him through the xenonite plastic of his suits gloves.
"Sorry! Sorry it was quiet, it spooked me awake. And then you weren't there, so-"
"Rocky Adrien Sorry, Pilots found Dead Space and got a bit lost, needed Adrien help to map out area, and Adrien needed Rocky help to make sure Pandora Schematics didn't warp while Adrien gone."
The pair had begun to walk towards the Pilot's section of the ship as they sung/ talked. The hallways a bit taller to accommodate Grace's more lanky build.
Turns out Rocky was fairly short for an Eridian, 3'8 - but Grace's own 6'0ft still had him looking a bit far down at their tallest's 5'10.
Said Big Gray Boulder with gold stripes being an engineer on the ship, his translated name being Coal. Whom Rocky and Grace waved to as he scuttled by, carrying multiple parts for something seemingly important. The items taking up two out of five legs.
Following right behind him were two scientists, names Jade and Nyra; two female(? Grace wasn't exactly sure how their gender system works. He knows there is one, as some Eridians use Male and some use Female pronouns, and some use Gender Neutral- but he has no idea how they reproduce, and is not keen by any means to figure it out. So it remains a mystery)
But anyways, Jade and Nyra, two female Eridians that happened to be shorter than Cole, one with bright blue markings similar to Rocky's, and the other bright red taking up their legs and underside. Also carrying alot of stuff with an urgency.
"Whats with all the hurry? What did you guys find while I took a nap?" Grace gave Rocky a smirk, both because of the almost comical display of rush and his own excitement at maybe getting to name another planet something cool.
"Pilots find New Moon! All alone in Dead Space with Water(question) on it! Eridians scanned and found 3 forms of life and some kind of Sentient-Made Structures!!! We also took some samples of Liquid for Grace to see what Eridian cant. But First! We take closer look!"
Grace's heart does that now familiar skip.
Of course, times TEN.
A STRUCTURE!?!?!
SENTIENT LIFE!!?
Grace is SO pumped. Practically running ahead to the cockpit. Rocky laughing as he scuttled behind him to keep up.
Grace wondered what their language would be like. What they'd look like! What atmosphere do they breathe!? Do they need help? We're they dangerous?
Grace was so excited to meet the New Aliens!!!
OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!?!?!?
Grace has been staring at the screen for five minutes. His jaw hanging open slightly as he processed what he might be looking at.
The screen for his human eyes (Adrien & Rocky helped him make it by reverse engineering all the screens the Hail Mary used to have) was showing an average moon, with a.. blood red at the very least- ocean, or Great Lake morelike. But the color wasn't the worst of it-
What the Eridians saw as a Wave rippling though the water... Was an absolutely massive...Eel? Fishy Centipede!? Something HUGE, and horrific looking, swimming close enough to the surface to be seen from where the Pilot's had "parked" the ship in the moon's fragile atmosphere.
Grace swears to GOD it's looking at him right now. Massive yet beady eyes watching him, waiting for his next move. Somehow making eye contact with him through the screen and miles between them.
But its not just the Eel in the water, it's pushing something around- at an insane speed mind you- and whatever it is- it has the third Signal of Life (a specific frequency the Eridians can see) Inside it.
He needed the Eel to drop it.
But first, Adrien was eagerly bouncing next to his portable microscope, letting Grace marvel at what they found patiently, while still being so excited to find out what the liquid was.
So Grace picked his jaw and blown mind up off the floor and went to take a look at the three samles the probes were able to get; one of the Liquid, one from the Structure, and a very small sample from the "special waves"
Grace figured the iron rich liquid would be the simplest discovery, adjusting the dials on the side to get a proper-
...Oh no.
Grace adjusts again. That cant be right.
Oh god...
It CANT be!?
oh fudge.
its BLOOD.
ITS HUMAN BLOOD.
Grace's stomach tries to upheave itself onto the table. (Into his suit)
Narrowly avoiding such a disaster by pulling away from the sample table and a futile (because of his oxygen suit) covering his mouth with his hand (not even able to touch his own face while on this side of the ship) and an untimely gag.
Although his rapidly (to put it lightly) increasing heartrate had already gained him quite the concerned audience.
"Grace!"
"Grace Okay, Question!?"
"What Grace see, Question!?"
Grace had to explain what blood is to Eridians. They are horrified. Eridians do not have blood like humans do, they have fungal 'vascular' systems that help them live and move. The concept of Blood is terrifying. Why is there so much of this Life Liquid on a random moon in the depths of Dead Space!?!
"I dont know.. I really dont. And honestly? I dont want to think about it." Grace turned back to the microscope to find that Adrien was already switching out the sample (with tongs now, notably.)
"Then Don't, Statement." She hummed. "Look at what Special Wave is. You are scared of it, you see what we cant. Statement."
...Yeah it would also have turned out that Rocky was mated with his opposite. Blunt, focused, Intelligent as a defining trait, and sometimes a bit cold.
She reminded him of Stratt, a little bit. And that little bit meant it took a long time (the whole 3 years, up to right before boarding this ship, actually) for Grace to eventually warm up to her, to see what Rocky might in her.
How her Coldness was actually a searing warmth, her bluntness not meant to be rude- just the Truth. And how she never comprimised her morals for all her intelligence... Grace learned she was nothing like Stratt, and learned to really value her opinions and all her facts.
She was blunt enough to see that "The Wave" scared Grace, and tell him as much. But also kind enough to have him examin something else first.
So he wheeled himself on his stool back to the microscope, she'd placed the sample of the Eel on it. It was very small, the creature likely mid-motion when the probe poked at her to get the sample.
...Her?
Her.
Grace shook his head, before peeking into the small glass circle and moving the dials-
oh.
OH!!?
"The Wave, it's a massive creature, but its cells are made of Astrophage? Its.. It might be a collective that reacted to the blood, and made this body over time to better.. do what Astrophage do."
Multiple hums of worry sounded around him.
"That must be why so many stars are missing in Dead Space, Statement." Adrien was the first to conclude, of course. "It made many Tethers(what Eridians called the Petrova Lines) To it to feed, and now it's run out. Which is why Evolved, and now moving in circles, it's looking for Light, Statement."
"Yeah. What she said." Grace figured that summed up his own assumptions pretty well.
Rocky poked at Grace's arm from his right, and once Grace turned his head, a worried, quiet hum of "But there's no Planets in Dead Space either.. Other than this Moon. Statement." Rocky turned to Coal, Jade and Nyra, and two pilots that were still in their seats watching the discoveries: Zune and Kay. (One silver with white swirls, the other coppery with red flame patterns on his topside)
It was actually Zune that finished Rocky's train of thought "Did it also eat the planets that used to be here, Question...?"
Grace's stomach plummeted.
That, would explain it. The creature was huge, easily the size of the Abby, and all cooped up on this little lone moon like a bloody landing pad in the expanse of its destruction.
Grace turned his eyes to the seismic Schematics the ship was able to glean from the moon, and sure enough... Tunnels galore.
As .. Deeply fascinating, and if Grace was to admit it to himself.. cool, this thing was.
They needed to stop it. Or every inch of the Expanse was going to be added to Dead Space.
"...Welp. we have a Taumoeba Gun, it is probably very killable with that..?" Grace turned back to his microscope to double check, reaching into his suits belt (that always carried a Taumoeba sample, it was just a necessity during this trip.) And plucking the vial from its pocket.
Picking up some of the dehydrative cells in a small pipette, and placing them in with the Eel sample-
The ship shook. The pilots scrambling to stabilize their position while the rest braced against what they could grab.
Grace's head on a swivel to look behind him at the screen.
Sure enough, the Eel was writhing in agony, how the hell she(the heck?) Was able to feel that from so far away(nevermind DETACHED) Grace honestly wasn't keen to find out.
Already looking back into the microscope before the ship was even stabilized, and with an unbidden smile, find that the Taumoeba were feasting on the evolved astrophage cells.
"I was right." Grace breathed out once the ship stopped humming with the disrupted chords from the strings, and the Eridians could actually hear him.
"AMAZE! Amaze! Amaze!" Rocky was boucing beside him while Adrien walked back around Grace's stool to beside him.
"It can be killed, Question?" She asked.
"Yup! It sure can! Zune!" Grace pulled back from the microscope to look the pale Eridian in the face, thankfully finding he was already looking at Grace for instructions.
"Point the Taumoeba Gun at it, and start warming it up- but don't fire just yet. I need to see what's on the moon with it."
"Copy, Statement!" Zune started plucking the strings in front of him to do just that, while Kay bapped on the drums to help.
Grace turned back to find Rocky eagerly placing the (metal?) Sample under the microscope. Getting more bouncy with the seconds passing, Adrien placing a gentle hand on her mate's side, so he would stop vibrating the ground around him, and so everyone could see what they were doing.
Grace looks at the metal, not really surprised to see its Iron, the metal abundant in space on nearly all terrestrial planets, meteors and the like.
...But it was so refined. Too perfectly layered, like it was melted over and over again to be repurposed multiple times.
Only something very intelligent could do that.
Like an Eridian, or..
"Grace! Look!" Rocky shouted. Pointing at the scanners Eridian screen.
Two small, repetitive, gentle thumps kept coming from the Structure, and one inside that metal container (crude submarine, maybe?) the Eel was pushing around.
They matched the consistency of his own beating heart.
Which, among the many things Ryland had learned in his life on Erid- was very Human Specific.
"They're Humans!" Adrien trilled.
...Frick.
Humans.
On a moon with an Ocean of Blood.
And a massive, planet and star eating Eel.
And she had one practically in her mouth.
"We need to fire the Taumoeba Gun on the Eel." Grace spoke before he'd even realized he had a plan.
"Grace Sure, Question? One of the Human very close to it! What if we miss?" Zune hummed, worry feeding into his pitch as Grace slowly walked over to the Pilot's control center.
He didn't really know why, maybe it was the pronouns that kept being transmitted into his head (it was absolutely that. What the HECK that is SO SCARY-)
But he had to do this.
He had the one thing that could kill this monster primed and ready to fire at it.
He just had to hope his crude understanding of the ship would be enough, and he wouldn't kill the human in her(EW STOP IT) mouth.
"Then I'll fire it, I can see her better through my screen. Which thingy does the boom?"
Zune didn't really sound convinced.
"Her? Who Her?" Rocky sure as heck didn't either. Small 3-fingered fist grabbing Grace's suit to try and gently pry him away from the controls.
"The Eel. I dunno, just let me do it." Grace absent-mindedly explained as he watched Zune demonstrate which drums to tap to fire and what strings pulled to aim.
"Grace, Wait." Rocky tried again when the human sat down, and started maneuvering the strings.
"Let me do this, Rock." Grace spoke with a bit more urgency than he intended.
This Eel needed to die.
Or the Human in her clutches would die.
Or everything would die.
Or Erid and the Eridians would die.
Or He would Die.
Pulling the strings like a bow with his right arm, he aimed.
And She looked up at him, haunting eyes trying to reach him.
To convince him to stop.
To listen to his dearest friend and wait.
It was with the foreign hum that started to reach his ears, and the Eridians suddenly shrieking, that his fist slammed on the drum.
And he fired the Taumoeba Gun right between her eyes.
(Rocky POV)
Rocky's head hurt really really bad.
Adrien, Coal, Jade, Nyra, Zune and Kay were all crying the same.
Pain.
pain pain pain-
Until it was just, gone. And he was able to hear and orient himself again.
Turning to find Adrien first, but she was already stumbling to him. He adjusted to stabilize her as she practically landed on top of him.
"Rocky, Love, Okay?" She hummed a haggard tune. Still reeling from the experience.
"I'm okay, sit, you're dizzy." Rocky eased her down to the floor before looking around for the others, for Grace.
Everyone was okay, and alive, and mostly unharmed. The Tablets showing the Eel (apparently) dissolving.
That odd, too high pitched frequency that had begun since they'd found the Moon, and gotten worse the more Grace found out, finally gone.
And both Heartbeats still going strong. The one nearest to the Eel a little faster now, but that was to be expected.
Rocky, at first stuck in his amazement like the others, soon turned around when he realized the closest human heartbeat to him had started falling out of rhythm.
Rapid, terrified beats coming from the thin human behind him, so Rocky stepped closer, placing a hand on his knee, which was hardly acknowledged.
"Grace Ok?"
Grace was frozen, staring at the screen in terror.
His panicked mumbling soon clueing Rocky into what was wrong.
'Grace won't go down. He cant. He cant do it. He cant go on that moon. He doesn't want to, you cant make him against his will-'
The actual words his friend was saying a bit lost to Rocky without his translator, but their meaning crystal clear.
Now that the Threat was gone, the next thing on the list was to go get the New Humans.
And Grace was scared, his Nightmares attacking him again after doing something Brave.
Rocky hated how his mind would do that. Punish itself for stepping outside of its comfort cave with Horrific Dreams and Memories. He hoped it would end someday...
Grace's mind telling him he had to go save them himself, when he didn't know how, when he was still so scared of being Brave-
So Rocky quickly started talking. Before Grace had another full-out Panic Attack.
One of Many, on this trip so far.
Rocky still wasn't sure why Grace had decided to come on this trip, outside of his very clear fear of being too far from Rocky or Adrien.
Which he could understand, to a certain extent.
Rocky didn't want to leave him, but he'd failed his other crewmates on the last space mission. And some part of Rocky needed to make sure these 5 made it out alive.
And Adrien wasn't content to spend another ten years without him, so she came too.
And then Grace, in all his Pack Mentality, had to come too. Even though it took scrapping the Hail Mary and turning it into something so unrecognizable? That Grace could finally breathe in it again.
Even though he was scared of Adrien for so long, he worked and cooperated alongside her to manufacture both the BioDome, the Greenhouse, and then his section of The Abby.
Grace was pushing himself too hard too soon. And wouldn't listen to what Rocky or Adrien would tell him to slow down.
Wouldn't listen to his present, too tangled up in his horrible past.
Every step of this mission that led to a new planet or star, this would happen. Where Grace's jumbled memories would lie to him, and tell him he needed to risk himself again.
So Rocky says he won't have to. Rocky reminds him again that they have Eridians who specialize in traversing other worlds. (Coal, Jade, Nyra, and Kay). That they will be willingly sent down with cords attached to their suits, and once they'd found the New Humans, will bring them onto the structure and keep them safe from anything else that might be lurking in the Ocean while Adrien and Rocky make them what they call "Grace Suits" so they can survive the move into the ship.
And Everyone would come back. Rocky and Adrien would make sure of it.
The rapid, punching beat slowly soothing the more Rocky (and even Adrien) hummed at him.
(Grace POV)
Grace calms down the more Rocky explains. He doesn't have to go. There are living beings who's entire life's work is going instead of him.
He takes a deep breath, applying pressure to his flace through his suit with his hands as he tried to get a grip.
"Grace okay, Question?" Rocky asked again.
"Yeah. Yeah I'm okay." And Grace was able to answer this time.
-----------------
He watches through the echolocative tablets how the Explorers depart from the ship, and slowly use their cords to sort-of fireman pole down to the structure. Looking for the lifeform they hear inside.
But when they arrive they are too late.
The Human Male was severely burned with radiation, but anything the Eridians could do for the Burned Man would only prolong his suffering. Especially putting him with his falling off skin into any kind of suit.
They ask the AbbyShip for Grace's opinion.
And He's already crying. Its a Human. They're really Human and they're lost in space like he was. And they're dying, with no way to be helped with the equipment they have.
Even if they get this man onto the ship and to the Digital Doctor- a quick multi-eridian hum to the seismic scanner shows that there's no brain activity.
It's not even static in his mind, it's just.. blank. And his small heartbeat.
So Grace calls for his suffering to end, and to bring his body back up into the ship for a Space Burial.
To give his spirit hope to be free, if it chooses to.
The closest Eridian (Nrya) whines, crying already. As they apologize to him before snapping his neck as quickly and painlessly as possible. A somber song is soon started among all the Eridians.
A Funeral Song, for a Friend Unknown. Grace hums along, for a moment.
Before remembering there is still one more chance to find another Human.
One last chance to get them out of the blood.
The Ship scans the moon again, the sign of life is inside the ocean, dropped by the Eel's disintegrated maw, and slowly sinking deeper.
So Grace holds his breath without need as the Eridians prepare for their dive in just their suits with the cords still attached to them.
"Time Go Fishing!!" Kay called out as a hopeful, inside joke before the dive.
There wasn't much to see for a long while. There were no cameras on any of the Eridians' suits, so once they dived into the bloody, astrophage filled ocean, it was a waiting game.
Still able to kind of watch their locations, though. Grace could watch on Rocky and Adrien's screens their general movements, and watch them as they were getting closer to the submarine, even as it was still slowly sinking from where the Eel had dropped it.
Grace felt Rocky grab his hand when the team made it to the Sub's location.
He gripped the small rock limb tight. When he was able to see the team had begun hauling it upwards, using some spare cords Coal and Kay had attached to them, and with Adrien directing said cords to retract a bit; bringing them all back up to the surface.
Zune busied himself with making sure the ship was stable, so it wouldn't yank anyone around.
Nothing had tried to eat them. Either the threat was truly gone, or they were very lucky.
Bringing the submarine onto the deck of the iron structure, the Eridians began looking for a way inside, trying to find the porthole.
...But there wasn't one. It had many small leaks (which boded badly for the heartbeat inside) And it was Welded Shut.
Welded Shut.
They were Welded Shut, Alive. Inside. With that thing in an ocean of literal blood.
"...ow." Grace immediately let go of Rocky's hand. Turning on his heel, the movement knocking Grace back into his body enough to find that he was breathing really hard, and probably about to cry again.
"Sorry, I just-"
"They're like Grace. Statement." Rocky was still facing his screen.
Adrien all the while was directing the team to find ways to use the leaks to break open the submarine. There was alot of liquid inside, and the body was way too close to it. The Human could drown if they didn't move fast.
"Yeah.. I think they might be." Was all Grace could say.
"...Its okay, Eridians save this one too." Rocky lightly bumped his carapace against Grace's knee. And it was enough to get Grace to take a big inhale.
"Yeah, we will." Finally smiling again when Coal (of course it was Coal) broke open the hull, and tipped it over just enough for blood to pour off the deck and back into the ocean.
Accidentally also pouring out a body.
"Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!" Rocky is bouncing, Grace holds his breath. They see him, now to check if there's any saving him..
'Please dont be brain dead, please dont be brain dead, please dont be-'
But before the Eridian Team could even start humming to check on his brain activity, there's a deep, gasping cough. Making Jade jump and Nyra inched closer, gently grabbing what Grace assumes is the body's clothes in order to get them away from the edge. Kay was busy helping Coal both rip apart the hull and keep it from falling onto the body. Jade Eventually gaining the courage to follow Nyra as she hauled the body to a safer point.
And Grace sucks in his own breath. Holding it as he watched the man, even with only one arm, sit up. And wipe at his eyes, and try to look around-
"HUMAN ISNT BRAIN DEATH! HE LIVE! AMAZE! AMAZE! AMAZE!" Rocky CHEERS, absolutely bouncing around Grace until Adrien gently reminds him to calm down so they can see their screens.
But Grace's is crystal clear.
That's a man. A human man, from the looks of it- but he's absolutely drenched blood, missing an arm, and-
And already trying to take a swing at Jade. (Once his eyes were clear enough, apparently.) Scaring the poor blue rock, Jade jumped several feet in the air to dodge.
But The Man was still fighting, still terrified.
And terrifying and disorienting the Eridians trying to help him by letting out an animalistic, gutteral snarled scream(or maybe just a straight-up roar). Swinging himself forward and hauling himself up despite being half awake- half alive- and fighting for what he perceives as his survival.
"Knock him out! He's gonna kill himself or someone else!!" Grace shouts, Adrien is already singing such instructions into the transmitter.
Coal grapples onto the injured, blood soaked man's back, and despite The Man's roars and desperate thrashing, he was able to gently press a pressure point on his neck, bringing the man to his knees and onto his surviving arm. But still too amped up on Adrenaline to go down.
So Coal presses again, slightly harder this time, but still so careful of his jugular. Learning from Grace and Adrien that the throat up is a delicate and heavily loaded with importance part of the human body.
And the Man finally goes limp, Coal quickly getting off his back, and moving one of his arms to catch his head.
"Man safe! Man Sleep!" They cry, as Rocky and Adrien rush to make him a suit and send it down, the gathered Eridians watch over The Man, gently moving him onto his back to scan his injuries.
Grace has to sit down.
Holy shit that guy is STRONG. Coal was almost 800 POUNDS! And even with all that weight on his back, he had swung around to try and knock him off, and when his An Mian Nerve was pressed, still held up all that weight plus his own.
...he was also short? The Eridians seemed quite big compared to him as opposed to Grace.
Staring up at the screen, there's so much blood. Thankfully the Erdians can echolocate past it, finding the difference between a flesh wound or ripped clothing where all his eyes can see is rippling, soaking red.
...How are they gonna clean him up on the ship? Do they even HAVE enough rags for this kinda mess!?
The Digital Doctor, Armando, took care of the mess.
Swiftly cleaning The Man off, removing his clothes, supplying a hospital gown, and getting to work cauterizing the stump of his arm and stitching up his other wounds. The couple of Eridian Doctors (Wush and Garmdenia (That guy actually spelled out his name for Grace, not content with any nicknames)) on board were also present to help the "Human Specialist". Keeping supplies in reach for the robot, disposing of the too-soiled clothes- but working to salvage what seemed to be genuinely personal belongings; a Shoulder Strap, A Bag with a strange Black Box and an Oak Seedling(!!) Inside, and a headband.
Careful with each item, unsure of their significance, so each item was treated and cleaned with a reverence.
Especially the seedling, and the box.
Grace could only watch on (excusing himself when The Man was stripped, Obviously!!) With a strange feeling.
He wasn't the only Eridian- Kept Human anymore.
He wasn't the only Human this side of the Galaxy anymore.
He wasn't Alone, trapped in glass and xenonite plastic anymore. Unable to touch anyone.
...wait he should probably slow down.
This guy seemed.. traumatized at the bare minimum. And probably wouldn't be keen on a hug or maybe even close proximity with anything for a hot minute.
..still, Grace was SO EXCITED!!!
OH MY STARS HE WASNT ALONE ANYMORE!!!!
Once the blood was finally washed off, and Grace was able to really look at him; He was a Korean, 5'5 Man, with long wavy black hair and tired, droopy eyes. He wondered what color they would be, probably black, right? Or is that racist to assume? He hoped not.
...He kinda hoped they would be. He was kinda tired of Pale Eyes. Or no eyes.
Why was he so hung up on this? This information wouldn't matter.
What did matter was how BUILT THIS GUY WAS HOLY- This guy was SO MUCH MUSCLE. Grace was honestly a little jealous. Always on the skinnier side.
...He also looked like he's been through absolute hell.
Head Trauma, multiple of what Armando said to be acid scars along his hand, arm, torso and a few on his face, both on the left side, along his cheek from the cheekbone to the jawline, and a small circle one in the center of his eyebrow, apparently missing the eyeball, thankfully. A concussion, couple broken ribs..
And, ya know, the whole left arm being detached from its socket.. or whatever.
It honestly made Grace a little nauseated to look at. When they first brought him in, it was just a mangled stump with his shoulder bone poking out, but now after surgery, and a minor skin graft from his left calf; was a big, scarred stub where an arm should be.
And he was Still Fighting. When he woke up to the Eridians' Rescue... God..
That was Brave.
If Grace had ever received like, half of this stuff he'd either shrivel up into a ball and cry, or give up and die to escape the pain.
...He only ever got a severe concussion, and it nearly killed both him and Rocky.
And this man still, stood up and fought for his survival.
Grace was just glad he really went down, so the transfer into the ship, the medical bay, and into the Armando Dome was easy enough with Coal (this guy does alot around here) carrying him.
...Ah. wait a minute-
"Hey, Uh- We should probably turn off the lights in here, for when he wakes up." He says, turning in his tunnel to the nearest Eridian Medic.
"For what purpose, Question? Robot Medic and Grace can now see in Dark, Question?" The Medic Garmdenia asked, the purple stripe- painted Eridian tilting upwards to 'look' Grace in the eye.
"No- No we cant, but I can bring in a flashlight for the Robot, But-"
He was Interrupted by a familiar tune of Adrien, who he turned to find was behind him, and walking around Grace near the Armando Dome (the Digital Doctor was able to poke its arm in and out, but The Man will have to be extracted once he's awake and stable)
Adrien hummed to finish Grace's thought process for the Medic;
"Being Moved in Sleep is Scary, And with Agressive Man like him-"
"Traumatized. We dont know his personality yet." Grace corrected.
And Adrien acquiesced; "With Traumatized Man like him, We dont know how he will wake. Making it Dark will slow reaction time, and give brain less to process upon waking up. Grace is Right, small warm light good idea."
Garmdenia grumbled a word Grace hasn't translated yet, (so probably a colloquial complaint or curse word) and moved to the strings on the wall, plucking certain notes to signal to the Engineers to turn off the lights in the Medical Wing.
Grace deciding to head to bed once the lights shut off. There wasn't much he could do now, since Rocky insisted he get the light for Adrien to set up for the Robot, so he figured Sleep would be the best option.
Hopefully he could meet this Brave Stranger before the ship made it back to Erid...
Simon POV
He felt Her Die.
How there was a massive surge of heat, and then She was gone.
Simon was left to sink, and drown in the ocean. Hoping the Black Box made it to the surface with his seedling and prayer.
He slowly blinked open his eyes, finding the dim light of the Iron Lung still going strong.
His body absolutely stung. But he felt less pressurized, and dry, so that probably meant he was numb and dying.
He looked up at the ceiling-
And an intense feeling of Alertness consumed him.
That's not the ceiling of the submarine.
There's no strings of gold on the SM-13.
"What is 2+2?" A Stranger asked.
Simon's eyes darted to the nearest movement. A strange Claw reaching for his left side.
His weak, arm-less side.
"What is 2+2?" It repeated, slowly inching towards him.
An Unknown Location.
An Unknown Ship
And Unknown Voice.
And a Threat with three fingers was reaching for his eyes.
And Simon Moves.
Ripping off the metallic arm with just his one and the momentum it took to roll off of the exam table.
An Alarm is sounded out. Vibrations ringing the strings on the walls and carried outside of the room.
And that's when Simon notices he's inside a dome made of glass.
A Prison.
And he hears The Guards coming. Soon the door identified itself with it's opening in the dark room, and horrific, too many legged, living meteors scuttled into the cell,
And a Human, too.
He was Surrounded.
He was Wounded.
And he felt like he was Drugged.
He couldn't tell if it was him or the walls screaming, it didn't matter. The noise he made disoriented the eye-less aliens like it did last time.
The Big One reached its claws near the Dome-
And Simon threw the Metal Arm at it, the glass giving way to hit it square on center mass, and it fell over. More Noise rang out as a result.
He could vaguely hear Earth(?) English, but it didn't matter.
Nothing Mattered.
He wasn't Dead, Or Dying, He Survived The Iron Lung, and The Ocean of Blood.
HE WASN'T DYING NOW.
The Seconds of him defending himself from the Alien Advance passed in a blur, he'd broken the table and threw that at the smaller ones, the Dome still not yielding to let him out.
He screamed, hit, threw, cursed and demanded to be let out.
And he was feeling himself grow tired.
The Drugs were eating away at his Adrenaline.
Which made him more scared.
He cant.
He cant have survived what he did, all of it. His whole life, just to die by being some Alien Experiment-
"Yes! okay! It'sokay! You're ok! Dont be afraid!"
'...what?' Simon turned around. Finally allowing himself to sit still enough from where he'd almost crouched on the floor to hear and understand the Human that he'd forgotten was in the room.
A Tall, Skinny thing. A Man, if the blonde stubble suggested anything.
Once he made eye contact with him, he kept talking.
Kept getting Closer.
"It's alright! We got you out! I'm really sorry but I did just give you a fairly heavy dose of Xanax, but it will wear off soon! Just after you wake up in like 6 hours! These guys are really only trying to help you but you kept hurting them and-"
No.
NO NO NO NO-
Anger was able to give Simon another burst of Energy.
He charged at the Traitor that was Too Close to the Glass.
Winded up his arm, and with the knowledge that the Dome wouldn't break and let him escape. The sedatives he was given wouldn't let him escape-
He punched the Traitor full force in the nose.
He dropped like Paper. Out in an instant.
A Shrill, gutteral noise pierced his ears, that mixed with the drugs made Simon wobble...
And it would turn out, that the Dome could concave in both directions.
When one of the smallest aliens, a brown one, lunged at Simon and tackled him.
His vision blurring and blacking out before he hit the ground.