Chapter Text
GRACE POV:
Noise is the first thing I sense when I wake up, then the awful burning sensation. Like my entire shell is on fire. The steam coming off of me hurts. I trill in pain and try to move but my limbs won't obey me. I hear some flat voice yelling, it sounds scary…why is it scary?
“Ị̶̻̳̩͇̪͔̪̳͈̯̼̼̰̤̒̓̉̈́̅̎̄̓̈́̾͛͘͘̚͜͜ͅ ̸̛͇̤͎̥͚͊̑̊͒͊͆̀͒̈́̑̔̑͆͋̔̽̾̈̚͜ţ̵̢̡̥͙̲͙̬̜̫̩͔͖͍̥̜̻̮͈̩͇̤̻͋̇̊͂̓̐͆͑̓͋͛̌̈́́͋͋̑̽̉̋̅̃͑̈͘̚̚͜͠h̸̦̜́͐͌͆͛͌̏͘ì̷̢̧̱͇̪̯̗͈͇̬͔̲͙̜͖͇͚͖̳͈͔̘̮̼̬̫̝̉͐̿͗̒̾͑̔̓͂͒̆̓̋̓̾́̽͐̑͆͂̕̚n̸̟̫͔͍̮̖͕̹̥̓̓̿̓̋͌̿̀̈́̊͂̈̀̊̕͘͠k̷̡͍̠͇̼͇̖̟͓̭̯̝̤̦͓͙̖͍̘̟̼̬̙͈̯̼̙͚̍̾̽̒̒̄̿́͐́͗̉̌͗̉͘̚ ̸̢̛̣̪̯̖̹̻̗̹̻̬̯̯̤̈́̇͆̈̓͗̅̊͛͑̑̏̿͆̔̒͑̐̊̾̚̕͜͝h̶̭́̀̆́̾͌̐̔̿͋͆͝͠é̷͎̣̞̩̰̼͇̲̣̀́̈̌̀́͂͋͌͋̒̽͒̔̑́̏͘s̷̛͚͌͊̈̈́̈́͛̏̌̀͆̊͛̃̀̅̋̅̋͊̎̽̾͆̕͝͠ ̷̧̢̢̭͖̣͍͈̝͕̘͚̬̰̩͖̱̄̀̎̈̈́̀̈́̅̅̓́̀̇̍̊̓̈̂̈̎̓̾͘͠͠͝ͅd̷̛̛̰̪̙͌͆̑̑͗͒̀̓͂̂̑́̀̿̈́̒̑͊́̽͋́͛̂͋̕͘͝͝ẙ̸̧̧̧̧̠̠̼͈͕͉̝͚͚̪̟͙͇͉̩͈̩̫͙̯͎͑̌͗͂̎̋͊̔̈́͑̉̍̅̓͌͌͋̑͋̈́̉̾̈̄̃̋̐́̚͝͝i̶̢̢͙̠̥͈̠̟̬̞͚͈̗͚͉͍̪͌̿̽͂͆̂̾̌͑̍̌̏͐̕͝n̵̢̧̡̛̦͙̤̩̟̭̼̭͍͔͔̯̳̞̮̝̈́̄̿͛̈́̇͒̿̋̇̽͒́̀̐̽̀̍͌̀̀̏̀̅͗͋̆̿̀͋̽́͘͝ͅg̵̤͓̤̗̩͆̀́́̂̈́́̍͑̃͂́̆͂̔̀̎̉̅̚͝͠!̸̛̞̙͓̠͉̯̼̦͇̪̬̜̻̰̳̾̓͌̓̇́̅́͛̔͋!̴̡̡̧̨̨̧̣͙̼͎̥̯͕̪͉̥̯̮͈͎͚̺̰̪̤̥͚̹̲̗̱̞̲͍̌͆̾̑̋̈̒̾̀͐͌̍̐̾̓̀̿̎͘͘̕͝͝ ̵̢̨̨̢̨̞̰̹͙̣̥̬̺̝̪̣̤͚̦̣͍͉͈̠͔͕̼̹͔̺̰̽̃͌͑̽͜͜͠ͅw̵̧̛̦͉̣̠̘͉̣̞̤̘̼̖̗͓̗̺͉̠̥͌͊̈́͗̌̂̀̊̊̓̉̃̓̒̆͋͒̿̾̕̕̕͜e̵̜͇̹͖͓̓̊̓̔̑̿̏ ̷̢͎̖̫̞̹̭̺͇̈̓͌̓̐̓̕̚͜h̸̨̡̡̪͕̯̮̙̪͉͓͕͓͉͚̩̜̩̜̣̳̩͎̹̩̼̀̃̓̐̒̆͗͆̈̈͌́͌̂̉̆͑̒̽͊̇̔͌̇͂̔͑̑̒̔̕̚̕͜͠͝ͅͅä̸̧̡̢̦͕̪͔̲̠͔̘̜̱̦͍͉̣̙͍̞̰̭͉̹͈̼̙̦̅̆͐̈̀͗͂̍͗̓͋̊́̃͊͌͋̀͛̌̈͆̂̎̅͘͜͠͠͠͝v̵̛̜̬̳̮͉͈͒͂̀̂̌͋͊̓̿̏̐͑̇̑̆̓̀̇̈́͋͆͜͠͝͝͠e̶̡̨̛͚̯̣͈͈̰̩̗̮̤͖͚̝͑̀̓͗̓̿̈́̋̐́̏̽̀́̕͜͝͝͠͠͠͠ ̷̨̥̥̼͖̝͉̖̜̩̮̯̃̓̐̀̓̑̃̎̏̇͗͋̑̆̓̂̚͝͠t̴̡̧̛̺̖̥͔̘̻̟͇̦͚̝̠̭͖͔̻̭̗͔̪̗̜̮̪̻̬͓̩̫̘̎͛͊̃̀̾̒̀̉́̾̎͌̉́̿̈́̆͒̍̽̀͋͆̈́̋͜͜ͅo̵͚̭̝̹̺͓͛͊́̍̾͌̆͊͋̒͆̊́̑̌̏̎̅͐̈́̓̇̿̋̋̓̈͂͑͐̚̕̕͝ͅ ̵̧̛̯͖̰̱̥͋͆̍̉͑̀̂̊̒̈́̅̐̓̽̊͊̾͗͊̚̚̚͘̕͝͠͠ḧ̶̨̨̛̲͕̺͔͍̞̻̰̠̯̣̭̬͖̪̗̀͂̇̃̈́̐̏̊̈̾͒͊̅͑́̀͐̿͊̏͗̏͋͠͝ẹ̷̢̧̡̨͙̞̖̼͈͕̮̼̯̲͎̫̖͇̮̗̺̝̮͈̥̦̼̃͑͐̈́̐̓̓̀̃̀͛͗̓͊́̀̋̈́̚͘̚̕͝͝͝ͅl̵̡̧̛̛̼̦͈̜̰̞͔͖̠͇̘̺̼̞̙̝̯̤̾̌̋̍̆̅͋̈́̍͋̈́͒̾̿̽̄̾͛p̴̻̰̪̖̮̙͔̖̈́͒͊́́̈̌̾̓́̐͊̿̒̔͑́͘͝͠ͅ!̵̢̧̛̖̩̗̞̝̩̮̪̄̎̌̐͛̅̔̊̀̀͆͋͛̚͘̕͘!̵̡̙͇̹͇̮̘̗̰͕̪̦̖̪̮̗͉̦̹̠͇͚̳̞̍̐͑͊̓͐͘͝ ̷̡̡̧̣̗̻̗͕̖̞͈͖͔͔͓̮͓̮͙̞̳̦̰̖̉͒̅̽͘͝ͅs̵̨̡͍͇͎̮̺͈͕̯͍̞̰̘̟̥̟̞̘̤͉͉̮̟͕͖̳͖̩̮̪͇͎̏̏͊͐͗̓̋͆ͅờ̶̢̟̱̗̱͔̙̞̹̻̭̬̭͍̗̺̰̼̗̠̳̮̾͗̽͋̑̐̇̃͛̌͒̃͗̃̎̔́̈͑͑̿̀̓͘͠ͅm̶̡̧̧͔̜̻̜̫̳͔̪̺̼̥͈̀͌ͅę̶͉̳̞̹̱̤̘̭̤̤͕̝̭̲̫̯̩̪̙̥̘̻̖̗̀͂̑́̋͋͐͐̔̍̆̏̅̀̉͒̂̐͛̄͛͘̚̚͝ǫ̸̨̨̨̫̯͔̜͇̥̯̤̳̤͙̪̼͚̰̱̜̫̰̗̰͈̌͛̋̉̆͒̈́̾̀̉̔͆̓̃̏̽̋̈́̿͝n̸͙̠͓͚̲͕̩͉̳̗̆ē̶̛͕̩̅͗̿͗̃́͋͆͒̽̌̉͊̀̄̆̅͌̾̾̂͑̚̕̕͝͝͝ͅ ̸̡̛̻̩̲̳͎̝̜̙̞̙̣̳͊̃̊g̶̨̡͖̼̮̟̻̘̹̺̰͓̹̪̤̱̟̉͛͗̒̿͝͝e̴͓͖̙̥̙͔̳͒̀̿̆́̉͂̍̌̓̓̐ţ̴͈̪̻̪̬̺͆̿͆̾̇̑̎̆̿̿̃̑́̌̎͊͝ ̴̧̡̡̨̛̦̥͓̤͎͓͈̲̠̘͓̆̋̂̅͊̋̾͒͐̎̒̇̏̀͝͝͝m̵̡̢̠͕͓̹̱͔͕̮̭͙̯̹̰̺̲̺̬̄̑̑̾̀͐̐̐͑̃̓̇̕͜͝ͅę̸̢̛̥͎̹̱̰̱̣̺̞͈̞͕͖̦̯̰̜̰̫̠͍̤̤̪̦̰̣̠͔͕̠̮͌̊̊̿̂̐̋̾̀̃͐̊̍̋̆̋̔̈̓̀͜͠ ̵̡̗̝̘̠͔̼̙̫̹̘̮̤̮̙̩̪̫̟̤̃̽̿̆̑̎̇͐́̅̽̌̈́̌͊́̆̊̓͠ͅạ̴̧͑́́̆̓̿̾̌̂̃̌̈́̓̊̎̓͑̀͊̿̇̈͑̈́͘̕ ̴̧̧̪̂̿̒̒̐̾s̴̢̛̲̠͔͔̰̙̙͓͔̤̓̈͗͂̃̋͌͛̿̓̇͋͒̎̈͠ų̵̫̪͍̳͕̠̭̲̝͈̦̭̼͙͍͇̪̲̤͇͉̱̩͍̰͉̮̖̻͓̮͚̪̝̉̊̾͋̇̈́̇͌̋͆̊̊̌̽͠͝i̶̢̮͇̼͇̳̟̤̙̝̼͔̠͙͙͙̭͈͓͖̙͇͔̭̦̩̬̯̪͑̓̓͆̅̎͋̍̿͑̆̈́̕͠͝ţ̶͎̠̻͎̻̝̞͌̄͆̅͗͑̕ͅ!̴̢̨̼͓̯̩̤̯͔̰̳͔̲͇̠͍͓̮͕̦̋̿̎̿̈́̍͐̒͘͠͠ͅͅ!̵̨̙̲͇̬̼̟̰̪̯̜̟̓”
I felt something soft cradle my burning body. I dont know what this is but i feel it is trying to help me. The black smoke coming off my body hurts so much and I chirp weakly. Finally the feeling shifts into overdrive and the world goes quiet.
When I wake up again the room is quiet except for the tall creature in here with me. Is she my guardian? She seems like it the way she coos to me in that flat tone. She has to wear a special suit to keep her safe but that's ok, she holds me all the time and sings to me in the same flat tone. She had trouble feeding me at first, whatever she gave me made me sick, but she found something that works great! Still tired and wobbly all the time but she knows what's best doesn't she? She fills the rooms with pillows and blankets and toys for me. I like her the most for this.
She calls me ģ̴̧̮̙̘̥̟̩̣͚͚̞̤̗̱͝r̵̨̧̧̢̧̬̹͙͍̫̼̞̟͇̞͑̅ả̶̢̻͖̟̬̰̩̭̼̝ͅͅc̸̢̡̡͔̟̤͕͈̻̖̥͔̯̻̫̃̑̓̈̽̊̄̏̈͠ē̷̡̛̟̲̮͇̠̜̜̩̰̼̩͎͚͐͛̚ so that must be my name. I like it, it sounds nice. She giggles a lot
when i chirp to her so i always chirp her words for me it makes her laugh the most. Sometimes when she is just in the hall I hear her talking to people. They seem to call her “Ť̴͖͚͖̫̀̀͋̂̋͝ą̴̦͚̥̪̬͉̪̟͕̦̗̃̃͑̊l̵̢̦͈̳̦̠͈̪͕̙̟͇̠̔̾ï̷̼̼̺̣̻͇̪̣̥͚̲̀͘a̴͔̠̽́̍͋̿͒̇̓̊̒̉̕̕̚͘͝. It sounds like such a pretty name. I'm sad because mama always seems upset when she comes back after talking to them.
Recently she's been bringing back books and audio logs and teaching me Science!! She says I'm a fast learner and her brightest baby as i learn all the facts super fast. I learn about radiation and light (even if I can't see it). She teaches me sound waves and all sorts of chemical structures. Sometimes she even brings children on the other side of the glass wall. And I get to say hi to them all and show them how echolocation works!! The children always coo and I always get to wave. Sometimes she tells me that I will teach them myself someday.
Recently we have been studying this thing called astrophage! She let me name it sense i figured out how to make it reproduce!! She says its eating our star so we are going to be star eater destroyers!! Just like that movie she shows me all the time!!. We compare notes and thoughts and sometimes ideas for what astrophage could be used for.
Recently though she seems really stressed. Lately she's been talking to this other person a lot
named “E̵͚̩̗̥͉͇̪̝̠̾̓̈́́̓̾̀̂̈̋̔̋͘͠V̷̯̰̭͙͔̰͚͚͈͎̲̅̎̈̌̏̐̆̏̄̚̚Á̷̢̡͍̥͙̺͎̹̘̞̭̣̣͈͎͒̈́̎̈́̈́̄̐̚͜͠ ̶̡̨͉̭̣͈̻̠̙̭͊̄̌̉̽͜͝͝͝ͅS̴̨̡̺̤̣̮̜͕̲͈̠͚̺̑͘͝ͅt̸͓̕r̷̥̄̆̌̽͌͆̑͆̇̏̃͛̍̓͘͘͠͠â̸̛̭͎͔͍͖͊͒̾͌̽̏̔̾̐͆͝t̸̩̬̗͇̥͖̲̠̬͉̍ͅt̶̗͆͊͑̿̈͑̊̀̃͜͠. She seems really angry when she talks to her and comes back to my
A special room to hold me.She tells me this stratt lady is building a fancy ship to study the stars where the astrophage isn't surviving well and hoping to learn why so we can save our star. She says stratt wants to take me away from her and put me on the ship as a final backup but mom says she refused. She seems upset and sad so I try singing her favorite song which gets a small laugh. “G̸r̶a̸c̵e̷.̴.̸.̷i̷ ̶p̵r̴o̷m̷i̴s̶e̸.̶.̵.̵e̶v̴e̴n̸ ̷i̷f̴ ̶i̷ ̷c̴a̶n̴t̸ ̴g̶i̷v̷e̷ ̷y̶o̸u̶ ̴t̷h̸e̷ ̴b̶e̶s̴t̷ ̷l̶i̷f̴e̵ ̸i̵” she whispers into my shell. I think…thats the last peaceful moment we had together, But today the alarms are blaring and I can sense mom running away from some people. She's yelling something and I can't quite catch it. Why is she so angry!! Why are they pushing her to the floor!?! I chirp and warble for her but the room starts going hazy in my eco location. The last thing I hear is her screaming stop before everything is quiet again.
This wake up feels much the same as when I first hatched but far less painful, it's quiet and way too cold.those memories blur in my head like soup.That isnt right….i feel like im forgetting a lot more then i remember. I chirp quietly and freeze as I notice the room is a small cube, barely big enough for me to stand up in. Where am I?? I chirp quietly as I move around. I tap the door in front of me and it makes a quiet chime. “Glass!!” I chirp eagerly as I tap it. I sit there and listen to my mama. But all I can sense is some machines and the quiet humming of some sort of engine. I don't understand where I'm at and I don't know why I'm here. I hear a noise “M̷o̷v̵e̷m̸e̷n̴t̷ ̸d̶e̷t̶e̵c̸t̵e̴d̶,̴ ̶w̸e̷l̵c̸o̶m̷e̵ ̴a̵b̵o̴a̴r̶d̷ ̵c̶r̸e̴a̸t̶u̸r̷e̵ ̴g̵r̵a̷c̴e̸,̶ ̵f̴i̸l̶l̵i̶n̷g̵ ̸m̶a̵i̸n̴ ̷r̴o̸o̴m̵ ̴w̸i̷t̸h̴ ̷a̸m̵m̶o̶n̸i̷a̵ “ a computer voice chirps loudly while the strong smell of gas fills the rooms. Suddenly the glass door opens and I jump outside and land on the floor. Everything is so big!!! I chirp excitedly as I run around. There's test tubes, machines and so many other things!! I heard that voice again “g̸o̷o̷d̷ ̴M̴o̵r̸n̷i̴n̴g̸ ̶g̸r̶a̵c̴e̷,̶ ̶w̵e̵ ̵a̴r̸e̷ ̷n̵o̷w̵ ̷2̸ ̷w̷e̷e̸k̵s̸ ̸f̶r̷o̸m̵ ̶T̸a̷u̷ ̴S̵e̴t̷i̸” the voice chimed.
“....why are we in Tau Seti??” I chirp confused. The machine makes no reply and continues on its way. I chirp and sense the room around me. It's plain and simple, with all the machines and such I sensed earlier on the other side of the door. Now that I'm paying attention my room is just 4 walls and a couple of pillows and a couple packs of metal food. That's it and no where to go. I tap at the door and ask to go outside but mary replies with the mechanical drone “n̷o̴,̶ ̸t̵h̷e̶s̵e̸ ̸a̷r̵e̵a̷s̵ ̸a̸r̸e̶ ̷f̷o̸r̵ ̷h̷u̴m̴a̵n̷ ̴p̷e̸r̴s̴o̵n̸a̸l̷ ̶o̵n̴l̷y̵,̴ ̴g̷r̶a̷c̶e̵ ̴i̶s̶ ̸t̵o̷ ̷s̶t̵a̵y̸ ̵i̸n̶s̸i̴d̸e̵ ̵c̴o̸n̷t̸a̴i̷n̵m̵e̷n̸t̶ ̶a̸r̸e̶a̸"̶” she says. I stomp my foot and pout, why only people!? Mom always let me follow her in my ball!! Wait thats it…my ball!! I run around and find my ball stored away under a locked cubby. I trill at this disembodied voice to open the cubby. She opens the door and roll my ball out to the main floor. Now i just need to make sure its pressureized and figure out how to get the other door open.
…………I should start with the door sense. My ball is pretty easy to figure out. I poke and prod at the door for hours looking for a latch or something. I finally found a panel written in braille. “Please only use in the event of emergency ” was what it read and I froze. I chriped up to the voice “if i open this hatch….will it hurt the other people inside?” I whisper.”n̷o̴,̷ ̸i̵t̵ ̵w̶i̵l̶l̸ ̴f̸l̵o̶o̸d̴ ̶t̵h̴i̸s̷ ̵r̷o̵o̷m̸ ̴w̷i̸t̷h̸ ̶o̶x̷y̷g̵e̴n̴ ̶a̷n̶d̷ ̴a̷l̷l̶o̸w̶ ̸m̶o̷v̶e̵m̸e̶n̶t̶ ̶b̶e̸t̶w̶e̴e̵n̵ ̴c̷a̷b̶i̸n̷s̸,̶ ̸a̸r̵e̶ ̷y̶o̴u̸ ̵s̷u̵r̶e̶ ̷y̸o̶u̸ ̶w̷i̶s̷h̵ ̸t̸o̷ ̶p̶r̵o̷c̶e̴e̴d̸?̶” the drone voice uttered. “Yes!” I chirped. “”T̶ ̷m̶i̵n̷u̶s̵ ̶5̷ ̸m̶i̷n̷u̵t̷e̴s̴ ̸t̶o̸ ̵e̵m̷e̸r̷g̷e̸n̶c̴y̶ ̷o̸p̸e̶n̵i̷n̸g̸ ̴t̸o̵ ̷s̷e̷c̵t̸i̶o̵n̶ ̸4̶b̴ ̷o̸f̸ ̵t̴h̸e̵ ̷h̶a̵i̴l̶ ̷m̶a̸r̵y̴ it droned. Oh…..its name must be hail mary i thought as i grabbed my ball and began to add pressure and heat. “T̷ ̸m̷i̴n̴u̷s̸ ̵1̵ ̶m̶i̴n̷u̸t̷e̷” Mary droned as I hopped into my ball.
Finally the door opens with a groan and I feel the cold air of oxygen flood my room. I shiver even though my ball is keeping me safe. I let off some steam before I venture into the great unknown the hail mary.