Chapter Text
♩♪♫ ~~~~ ♫♪♩
Adrian continues humming their lullaby for some time after Rocky's whimpering has finally stopped. Rocky now lays motionless, chirping an occasional note very quietly in tune with the melody.
Adrian's song waivers briefly, then they sigh. “Dearest, how do you feel?”
“...Lighter.”
Adrian finds this amusing considering he is still crushed under much of their weight. “It was good to meet Grace.”
“Adrian was formal formal formal. Grace not care about proper introductions.”
“Perhaps.” They tap a claw idly, “I wanted to be sure Grace knew what his actions meant to me… I may also have wanted to make a good impression.”
Rocky lifts a hand to scrape gently at one of Adrian’s arms, “Grace already love Adrian also.”
“Is that correct?”
“Yes yes yes, if important to Rocky is important to Grace. He says this many times.”
“What an earnest creature,” Adrian croons warmly, then stands and stretches their limbs. Rocky lifts himself after them, clinging to their proximity. Adrian speaks to him softly, “Apology, my song, but I must sleep now. I too have been neglecting myself as I waited to hear from you these past weeks.”
“Sorry sorry sorry.”
Adrian presses Rocky back down into the blankets playfully. “You can make it up to me by watching me sleep.”
Rocky springs up eagerly, dislodging himself from under Adrian's arm, “Yes yes! I watch! You sleep I watch!”
Adrian trills in amusement and tucks their limbs in neatly, settling deftly into the too-small nest. Rocky makes his way around the perimeter of the nest, fussily fluffing and tucking material until he is satisfied. Then he climbs onto the flatter section of Adrian's carapace, locking his limbs to hold him in place. He settles comfortably, rumbling out a long low purr, sounding exactly like a love-struck century-old. Adrian giggles as they fall asleep.
~~~~
Grace stirs. He still feels exceptionally weak, that isn't new, but his head feels clearer than it had the last time he woke. Wait, maybe that had been a dream? It had felt too surreal.
“Grace awake, question?” Rocky calls; it sounds like he's on the other side of the xenonite barrier. His words also come through in English right next to Grace. They’d had to start using the translation program again when his brain fog was bad.
Grace cracks open his eyes. Nope, it hadn't been a dream. Jiminy Christmas, they are AT ERID. And he is still ALIVE.
“Yeah,” Grace whispers through dry throat and heavy emotions. “Good morning bud.”
“Good morning Grace,” Rocky chirps languidly.
Grace reaches a shaky hand to the controls for his medical cot and raises it into a reclined position. He asks Armando for water, then does a quick once-over of his body. Everything is roughly where he left it: boney frame, tubes sticking out from every uncomfortable place imaginable, bandages covering old wounds that had reopened. At least all of his extremities still had sensation and wiggled when he told them to.
Pre-flight check done he lets his eyes wander around the room. He can see none of the familiar shapes of the Hail Mary's hull; instead he is surrounded by xenonite panels in every direction, and the floor is tiled with large, textured, dark grey hexagons. His cot sits roughly in the middle of the irregularly-shaped room, so that Armando can service Grace from all angles.
Grace can see a tunnel leading out to his left. Rocky had said they were on the space elevator at Erid... The simplest way to get the right atmospheric conditions, and support for his human technology, would be to keep this bubble connected to his ship. So, that tunnel probably leads back into the Mary. Being on a space elevator also explains why he isn't being oppressed by 2.09 Gs of gravity; it felt pretty close to good old 1 G, but it was hard to be sure with his strength still shot. Gosh it was great to have some concentration back!
His feet point to a large airlock; which, by the way, on top of his floating ‘headboard’ is all terrible feng shui; and to his right the xenonite caves inward a bit, forming a little pocket that comes closer to Grace than the rest of the walls.
The walls appear to be the clear xenonite Rocky uses for his tunnels, but in the dimmed lighting he can't see past most of them. The pocket, however, has been outfitted with extra lights pointed into it, and through the panels he can just make out a large greenish shape with a smaller brown one on top.
Grace smiles. “Adrian sleeping?”
“Yes yes, I watch,” Rocky states.
Rocky hadn't been kidding about being "much closer" to watch someone sleep. He was balanced on a little shelf halfway up Adrian's carapace that looked perfectly fitted for him, one claw latched around the taller section to keep him from sliding off. It's probably the cutest thing Grace had seen since coming to space. He tries to fend off happy tears.
“I bet that's a relief huh? To finally watch your mate sleep again?” Grace wonders aloud, wiping his eyes before the tears can fall.
“Hmm... Thought would be, but… Last eridian I watch sleep…” Rocky's song trails off.
“Oh, oh Rock, everything's fine here. Adrian is healthy.”
“Rocky know…” Rocky's voice is in the very low register that the computer doesn't pick up, but Grace makes out what he says.
There is a heavy silence.
“Must still be scary though,” Grace empathizes quietly.
“Yes.”
“Adrian will wake soon bud.”
“Yes, Adrian will wake. Adrian will wake.” Rocky paws at Adrian's carapace, listening to the shapes of their insides. Everything is still, but in its place.
“And they'll wake the next time and the next, and eventually you won't feel so scared.”
“Rocky hope so.”
Grace sighs, there's not much more he can do to comfort his friend. He wishes he could at least get over there and keep Rocky company properly, but he hasn't been able to stand on his own in months.
Suddenly the airlock hisses and Grace nearly jumps out of his skin. It's a sound he's quite used to, but it’s wrong as heck to hear while he can see that Rocky is nowhere near it. After a moment the door on this side opens and an eridian steps through, emerging from the darkness.
They are angular, with long slender limbs and a rectangular carapace about twice as tall as Rocky's. Said carapace is taller than it is wide and held at an unnervingly level position as they walk. Their body is a lightly marbled bone-white, which stands out starkly against the dark shadows and xenonite of the room.
Grace stares wide-eyed as they glide to a stop a respectful distance from the side of his bed. They bow a greeting: their family crest impossible for Grace to make out on their pale surface through the exo-suit.
When they speak, their song is crisp, as if they are enunciating very clearly; “Greetings, Savior Scientist Grace. I am Lead Doctor of Human Medical Team, ♩♫♪–♩; Hails-from-East-Valley, One-of-Curious-Mind, Studies-in-Many-Places, Bondmate to ♪-♫♩– and ♫-♩♫♪♪, Esteemed-Member-of-Medical-Hive.” They rise out of the bow and lift two of their arms, pressing their claws together similarly to how a human would steeple their fingers, “Apology, I did not mean to startle you. It is pleasure to meet Savior Grace officially.”
Grace takes a breath and tries to calm his elevated heartbeat so he can be normal to this friendly and definitely-not-scary alien rock-spider. The translation laptop repeated after Doctor ♩♫♪–♩ in the same voice Rocky has always used. And it's not like it's Rocky's actual voice, but it still feels weird coming from another person. He didn't quite understand a few of their chords though, so he'll have to make due for now.
“Uhh, ehem, hello! Just Grace is fine. It's uh, a pleasure to meet you too.” Grace tries to turn his grimace into a smile, but isn't sure that either translates as friendly.
Doctor ♩♫♪–♩ twirls a claw, “We are all relief that Grace has awoken. Your vitals have improved steadily since introduction of synthesized nutrients. Our science hives have recreated your Nutrient Liquid fairly accurately, and your medical robot is provided with ample supply.”
“That's, wow really? How long did that take?”
“Two Earth weeks,” the eridian chimes.
“Two WEEKS?”
“Indeed.”
“How long have I been here??”
“Three weeks.”
Grace's head spins, “Three weeks, and you guys have already brought me from the brink of death, with vitamins you had to create from scratch. That is… beyond amazing.”
“Yes, is quite amaze. I will relay Savior Grace compliment to science hives. For now I have something prepared for you.” Doctor ♩♫♪–♩ drifts back to the airlock and returns with a flat object which had been left on a vent to cool.
“Because you are scientist, we thought it would be comfort to have data of your treatment to review yourself.” They offer Grace the object and he nearly drops it; it's heavier than he expected and he doesn't have much gripping power. The doctor helps Grace lift it onto his lap.
The object is a hexagon, roughly the size of a dinner plate, and about a quarter-inch thick. It appears to be a thin metal tray filled with a layer of smooth, thick clay. The surface of the clay is etched with densely packed symbols. A writing tablet?
All trepidation about the eeriness of this eridian dissolves in the face of science, and Grace starts fumbling for his glasses. Before he even starts to properly look for them, Rocky calls out from his perch:
“On corner of table, left thirty-six degrees.”
Grace reaches before he looks, only doing so to make sure he doesn't knock them off the table. “Thanks Rock,” he murmurs as he puts them on and squints at the tablet. English numbers and letters have been etched into it in a distinctly arial font.
Doctor ♩♫♪–♩ gestures and paces as they monologue, claws returning to that steepled pose between smooth movements: “Most chemical elements like iron and calcium were simple to collect and isolate. The vitamins were more difficult, but similar compounds to many were found in plant life from Erid atmosphere. Chemistry Hive alter the compounds into viable synthetic versions. Protein and sugar seemed simple to source, however biological difference make it difficult for human anatomy to recognize Erid proteins. We are in process of testing different protein sources for effectiveness.”
Grace only barely registers their movements as he pours over the data, following along with the doctor's overview. It's mostly English but some words are in Eridian. There are elements, chemical formulas, and lists of sources for materials on Erid. He skims the eridian lists for vitamin and protein sources; he recognizes the symbols for ‘plant’ and ‘animal’ present in many of the words.
“This is incredible! I wasn't sure you guys would be able to make half of this stuff; we certainly don't have the technology on Earth yet to recreate almost any of it without a proper source.” Grace gushes with more energy than he's had in months.
Doctor ♩♫♪–♩ stops pacing and echoes Grace's enthusiasm in their song, “Indeed, is very excite time to be scientist! We learn much about Earth Science from Human Thinking Machine; many hives have made exponential breakthroughs since language translation was completed.”
“Gosh, you guys work fast. You've even managed to create vitamin D? That's difficult to make even on Earth!”
“Yes, this was particularly difficult to replicate! A three-step process was developed to modify a compound found in single-celled plants in Erid's upper atmosphere.”
Grace scratches his chin, “That sounds like an airborne algae? Aquatic algae are one of the sources for 7-DHC on Earth, which when exposed to ultraviolet light creates vitamin D.”
“Our biologists notice this similarity as well!” the pale doctor trills. “The compound resulting from synthesis however is not perfect. The long plan after Grace organs recover is to supply ultraviolet lamps for basking, so that your body will create the proper compound itself.”
Grace leans back, blown away, “This list is huge and you guys have checked off almost everything in just a few weeks. You've all put in an insane amount of work for me; I don't think I'll ever be able to thank Erid properly.”
“Is no trouble at all to do for Savior of our planet, Savior Grace. All of Erid wish to repay you, is very least we can do,” Doctor ♩♫♪–♩ says matter-of-factly.
Before Grace has a chance to get emotional, they move on:
“Now, back to Grace recovery. Soon we will start physical therapy. Rocky tells us you are not fond of medical robot manipulating you when awake, so we are designing therapy exercises you can perform with assistance from our team.”
“Oh cool. Yeah, that sounds good.” It's nothing against Armando, he's great at his job, really. It's just kind of disconcerting to be manhandled by something that could crush you by accident. And, okay yeah, the other option of ‘freakishly strong rock-spider’ comes with the same risk, but they'd at least feel bad about it.
“Human anatomy is incredibly delicate however, especially in malnourished state. So! I have designed, with aid of Savior Rocky, training devices for our staff to practice with before handling Grace directly,” Doctor ♩♫♪–♩ gives a delighted little wiggle of their carapace. “We create materials that imitate human bone, muscle, and skin in both density and tensile strength. Using these materials, we devise training devices for eridians to handle and test limit of. The material will break when excessive force is applied, resulting in failure and more practice.”
Grace lets that visual sink in, “…So, you've got a room full of replicas of my bones, all broken and crushed somewhere?”
“And skin replicas, torn and punctured!” The good doctor bobs their ghost-like carapace with pride.
“That's, amazing…”
“Yes, very amaze. The room is here on elevator! If Grace like to observe sometime, can be arranged.”
“Oh uhh, yeah maybe.” Grace smiles nervously.
“We understand there is other type of injury which is not easily perceived by echolocation, Savior Rocky named this injury, ‘bruise’.”
“Mmhm, we got pretty familiar with those as I lost weight.”
Doctor ♩♫♪–♩ clicks their claws, “Indeed. For this we are creating a more advanced training tool which will indicate a failure when pressure is applied over a certain threshold. Is very advanced piece of machinery; use thin wire-like sensors woven throughout material in a pattern similar to human blood vessels. Since the bruise is caused by internal bleeding, these sensors will alert when pressure exceeds an adjustable threshold.”
“Oh, wow that sounds sophisticated.”
“I am pleased with our progress. Issue is that force needed to cause the bruise is difficult to measure; data in Human Thinking Machine inconclusive. We have working prototype which we hope to have you test yourself: to help us calibrate to pressure you are comfortable with.”
“Okay, cool. That sounds like a great plan.”
“Excellent. For now I will let you rest. You have much regrowing to do. Let us know if you require anything at all. Fare you well, Savior Grace.” the eridian scrapes an arm and starts toward the airlock.
“Oh! Bye Doctor, uh, sorry but I can't pronounce your name,” Grace chuckles awkwardly.
Doctor ♩♫♪–♩ stops and bobs their carapace, “This is no trouble! I would be honored to receive human name.”
“That would probably make things easier. Would you like me to find something that's a close translation of your name?”
“Is not necessary; many eridian names do not have meaning that would easily translate to human words. Not ones that would be convenient for Savior Grace to recite anyway,” Doctor ♩♫♪–♩ trills with an amused undertone.
“Haha right. Then, do you have something in mind that you would like to be called?”
They tilt their carapace toward Grace, “No no, would be Great Honor to be gifted human name of Savior Grace choice, as you have done for Savior Rocky and Esteemed Adrian.”
“Really? Anything I want? Uh, question?”
“Yes yes! Would be Great Honor indeed!” Doctor ♩♫♪–♩ says while making polite jazz hands.
“Okay, uh, how about… Bones. Doctor Bones.”
“Ah, Amaze! This name is fitting due to my work with human bone-like materials!”
“It also matches your carapace color. To my light-based vision you are a pale white, a very similar light frequency to Earth bones.”
“Very amaze! Savior Grace is truly clever,” Doctor Bones scrapes another goodbye, then heads out the airlock humming a pleased melody.
Grace settles after the airlock closes. He looks down at his tablet, barely begining to digest all of the new information he's received. He's really going to live. He's going to get stronger. He's going to be able to study eridians and their science for the rest of his life. A life that he gets to have because eridians are fudging smart and so so incredibly kind.
The moment the doctor leaves immediate earshot, Rocky pulls Grace from his heartwarming thought spiral by droning:
“Grace is huge fucking nerd statement.”
“What!?”
Rocky points accusingly at Grace through the barrier, “Grace name Doctor ♩♫♪–♩ after doctor in Stars Journey show. Is not clever, is Grace being nerd about alien doctor.”
“Hey, their carapace really does look like bone alright! Plus that creepy broken-bone room thing left a lasting impression.”
“Is even worse reason. Name Rocky ‘Rocky’ because look like rock, name doctor ‘Bones’ because look like bone. Grace bad bad bad at names.”
“Says the guy who wanted to name planet Adrian ‘Medium Rough Texture Circle Planet’.”
Rocky tips his carapace dramatically, one claw held in the air in mock exasperation, “AND THEN Grace name Rocky MATE after mate of Rocky character from movie.”
Grace points a finger at Rocky, “That choice was cute as heck, and one day you will admit it.”
♩♪♫ ~~~~ ♫♪♩
