Chapter Text
Ryland Grace
Cognitive Assessment. What is 2+2?
All I see is darkness.
What? Where am I? Who is that? I think to myself. I try to open my eyes, but they don’t budge. I hear a zipper open something near me but I’m not sure what. Is this a dream?
What is 2+2?
My eyes finally open. My vision is invaded by a bright light. Something big gets taken out of my throat, making it easier to breathe. I cough up mucus and saliva, followed by a high pitched ring invading my hearing as my feelings restore.
Eye movement detected. Please answer your assessment.
I open my mouth to speak but nothing comes out. I keep opening and closing my mouth with no success. My vision finally gets restored as I look around. I’m laying down in a pouch with tubes coming out of places I’d rather not mention. What the heck? Heck? Really? Am I a kid or something? Well considering the sheer size of my body, I highly doubt it. I look down at myself. I’m a caucasian man, probably mid 30s or 40s, who speaks English. Why don’t I remember who I am? I need to get up. I need to figure out why I’m here. I need to know myself. I lift my arms to get myself out of this mess of wires and tubes.
What is 2+2?
A machine above me was making that noise. Let me try to speak again. I know it’s four, it’s elementary math.
“Ffffbdf!”
Well that came out wrong. I must’ve been in a coma or something, that’s why there’s a cognitive assessment and I’m having trouble speaking. Well now I have a thousand more questions.
Incorrect. What is 2+2?
“Fffffrrr!”
Incorrect. What is 2+2?
Ugh, I really don’t care to deal with this. I try to stand up, just to disappointedly roll off the bed. Clearly I haven’t regained full motion… Well it might also be the fact I’m in a sack. What kind of medical facility puts their patients in sacks?!
Please stay still as you are returned to the examination bed.
The machine grabs on to the end of my sack. I’m not staying still as I get examined by a robot! Where are the doctors?!
“Wwrrr aaarrr thhhhheee dddooccttrrrssss?!” My speech is improving but it’s still not good.
Unknown command. Please repeat.
The machine is still trying to drag me back. I wiggle out of the sack, just to realize I’m in a semi-see-through jumpsuit. I also have extremely long hair and beard. I must’ve been in a coma for a while.. Unless I was always this ugly. That’s for later to figure out. I should probably pull out the tubes before I go any further. The first, I pull out fine. The other, I realize, is a catheter. I probably shouldn’t pull it out myself, but who’s going to stop me? As I pull out the catheter, I start to feel immense pain down there. I feel something pour down my right leg. I look to my leg, and unfortunately that ‘something’ is red. Oh shoot. Shoot? Seriously, what is wrong with me? Maybe I have kids… or I’m deeply religious…
I try to ignore it as I attempt to stand up, but to no avail, I can’t. I find a bar to grab onto and figure out how to stand up. Finally. I definitely haven’t been conscious in a long time. I wonder what freak accident got me in this situation anyway…
That’s when I notice.. Other people! Yes! I’m not alone in this weird, fully automated hospital! I stumble over to the closest bed. This person is also in a sack. I open the sack to get a better look at them. This person is a woman, mid 30s, with long black hair.
“Uhm, ma’am? Are you awake?” No response. At least my speech is restored.
“Ma’am?” I try to shake her awake. Still nothing. Maybe she’s dead… When suddenly, her eyes flutter open.
Движение глаз обнаружено. Когнитивный тест: Чему равно 2+2?
Олеся Илюхина (Olesya Ilyukhina)
Движение глаз обнаружено. Когнитивный тест: Чему равно 2+2?
Что? А, да правильно. Я на «Аве Марие» и я только что проснулась. Но, надо по Англиски говорить, чтобы все всех понимали. Мы так с Яо договорились. Right. So I’m on the Hail Mary and I just woke up. My vision sets in as I see a strange man standing over me. My eyes widen as I try to scream, but nothing comes out because there’s a long tube in my trachea that was used for feeding.
Please move away from the patient.
“Oh, sorry,” he says as he stumbles back. That must be Dr. Ryland Grace, Yáo doesn’t look like that. The machine takes the tube out of my throat, as I cough up mucus and saliva.
Чему равно 2+2?
“Ччттрр” I say. My full ability of speech hasn’t been restored yet. I had assumed the questions would be in English, but I guess it makes more sense they are in your native language. It’s the first language you usually remember anyway.
Неправильно. Чему равно 2+2?
“Ччччееетттыыырррреееее” Hopefully that should work.
Неправильно. Чему равно 2+2?
Да блять что с этим роботом?! Let’s try again. I guess it makes sense I won’t regain full motion of my mouth in two tries. A loud crash comes from Dr. Grace’s general direction.
“Oops!” he exclaims.
“Arrr yyyyouuuu ooookkkkaaayyy?” I try to say, but it comes out with quite a heavy accent.
“Yeah! Just figuring out where I am, who are you, by the way?… And also on top of that, who am I?” Dr. Grace answers with his own questions. Who am I? Who is he? He should know who I am, at the very least who he is. Maybe he has heavier brain fog than I do? Ms. Stratt told us that he might have heavier brain fog than us since he was induced earlier than us, so that may be so…
“II aaammm Oollleesssyaaa Illyukhnnaa,” I start, but before I can finish telling him his name, Dr. Grace starts blabbering.
“Right! You’re Ilyukhina! Hello! I.. I’m.. Dang it, it’s on the tip of my tongue!” he says energetically.
“You’re Ryland Grace,” I say. Oh great, my speech is restored.
“Четыре!” I exclaim.
Правильно. Чему равно кубический корень восьми?
“Два,” I answer.
Правильно. Вы можете почувствовать дезориентацию, головокружение или потеря памяти.
“Switch to English,” I say, so this way Dr. Grace can better understand his symptoms.
Understood. You may experience disorientation, dizziness, and/or brain fog. Your catheter will now be removed. Please hold still.
I prepare myself for the feeling. Removing a catheter is pretty uncomfortable. Meanwhile, Dr. Grace keeps pulling on something. I figure it’s the control panel hatch.
“Why won’t this open!” Dr. Grace exclaims in frustration.
Please state your name.
“Ryland Grace, Dr. Ryland Grace,” he responds. The machine takes out my catheter. OW FUCK HOLY SHIT oh I mean that wasn’t too bad. How is he not in pain? While I’m freaking out, Dr. Grace climbs into the control panel.
“I wouldn’t go there without Commander Yáo!” I yell out to him.
“Who’s Commander Yáo?” he yells back. Right. He doesn’t remember pretty much anything so he doesn’t remember Commander Yáo.
“Commander Yáo is the guy in the other bed. He’s the captain of this ship. I’m the engineer and you’re the scientist,” I explain.
“Oh we should probably wake him up too then,” Dr. Grace says, “By the way, where are we? What kind of hospital is this and why does the gravity feel wrong?” There is no way he doesn’t remember anything? I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that it’s just brain fog, I just didn’t expect it to be this bad.
“This isn’t a hospital. We’re in space, Dr. Grace, that’s why the gravity is weird,” I respond. He goes quiet for a moment.
“…W-w-what? No, no, you’re lying! You’re messing with me! Where are we really?” Dr. Grace is in disbelief. Why is he SO confused? This doesn’t make sense. He should at least know our mission… Well I should wake Yáo now. Dr. Grace started walking back and forth, mumbling math equations. Suddenly, he runs away.
“Clothes. I need clothes,” I tell the machine.
Olesya Ilyukhina’s clothes bag will be brought out now.
Everything is going fine. Well everything but Dr. Grace. The machine sticks out the bag with my clothes. I open it and take out a random pair of pants and a shirt. This should work for now.
Here are some provided crutches if you should experience difficulty walking.
The machine sets them against my bed. I pick them up and slowly but surely walk over to Commander Yáo with my weak legs. I fall over a few times, but I get the hang of it pretty quick. The machine kept us from experiencing muscle atrophy, so it’s not too surprising relearning how to stand isn’t too challenging. Though, it’s been 4 years since we left Earth, and even more passed on Earth.
Crash!
A loud noise comes from the direction of the lab. Dr. Grace probably went there. He keeps getting himself in trouble. Looking to the lab, I see Dr. Grace with a whiteboard and a broken glass vial.
“What the hell are you doing Dr. Grace?” I exclaim in concern. I guess distress is pretty common for coma patients.
“0.348 seconds to hit the ground,” he starts to ramble as he approaches the resting room again, “Distance equals one-half acceleration times time squared… the gravity here is 15 meters per second… it should be 9.8… so we’re really not on Earth…”
“Did you really think I was lying?” I ask, a bit offended.
“I mean.. we could be insane so there’s nothing to rule out here,” Dr. Grace answers. I sigh as I unzip Yáo’s coma sack to wake him up.
“You should probably get clothes, Dr. Grace,” I tell him as I try to shake Yáo awake.
“Ah, you’re right. Machine! Bring me clothes!” he sarcastically demands. Quite the jokester, isn’t he?
“Commander Yáo? Your manifest should’ve ended, please wake up,” I urge. Shaking him again doesn’t have a change in outcome. He’ll awaken soon.
“Do you really not remember anything, Dr. Grace?” I turn to approach him.
“I just remembered what the Petrova line is, but that’s it. I’m assuming that’s related to our mission. Where are we going now?” Dr. Grace asks.
“Tau Ceti,” I respond. His eyes widen.
“That’s 11.9 light years away from Earth! Wait. How long have we been in a coma?!” he replies while putting on a shirt.
“4 years with time dilation, 12 years on Earth,” I say.
“We’ve been traveling at near light speed, okay. So, why are we going to Tau Ceti?”
“I thought you remembered the Petrova line.”
“Well, I do. It’s an infrared line from the Sun to Venus. How does it pertain to Tau Ceti?”
“Oh I see now. The Petrova line doesn’t just exist in our solar system, it exists in all of the nearby ones. All of the stars that have one are dimming, the exception being Tau Ceti. Earth sent us here to explore the reason why.”
“That makes sense. But how did they fit enough fuel on board to get here and back?”
“They didn’t. We’re going to die out here, in space,” I say, more excited than before. I was fully aware that we were going to die out and was actually pretty excited about the mission itself since it would hopefully save everyone I love. Dr. Grace has the opposite view of this mission. He doesn’t have anyone.
“W-what? We’re going to die here?!” his voice raises with his level of panic as he stumbles back. Tears start forming in his eyes. He falls onto the padded floor, breaking into a full sob. Suddenly, the machine starts to speak again.
Eye movement detected. Cognitive assessment: What is 2+2?
I assumed it would be in Chinese, but I guess I changed it to English. Damn it, Yáo said to not change any of the controls without alerting him. The machine takes his feeding tube out and he, like the two of us, coughed up mucus mixed with saliva.
“Ffffrrr,” he tries to speak.
Yáo Li-Jie
Ms. Stratt said difficulty speaking is normal. Let’s try again.
“Ffffooooorrrrr,” I say.
Incorrect. What is 2+2?
“Fffoouurrr,” I try to form all the letters in my mouth. Like the Americans say, ‘third time’s the charm.’
Incorrect. What is 2+2?
“Four,” I grit my teeth.
Correct. What is the cubic root of 8?
“Two,” I say, calmer now.
-------
Half an hour passes as everyone gets in shape and calm Dr. Grace down. He’s pretty scared to die for someone who willingly went on a death mission. Anyway, they must be hungry and angry.
“Food,” I say to the machine.
The machine brings 3 bags that contain a bag with ramen and a bowl. Then it brings out a kettle with hot water. We make ourselves the ramen and eat it pretty quickly. Oh that’s really good! I mean it is the first real food my body has taken in 4 years. My mind clears of many useless thoughts. Afterward, we head to the control panel to understand how close we are to Tau Ceti.
Yáo Li-Jie, Olesya Ilyukhina, Ryland Grace, end of manifest.
“Sit in one of the seats,” I tell Dr. Grace as I sit in the pilot seat. He sits to the right of me and Ilyukhina sits to the left.
8 days, 10 hours, 2 minutes, and 30 seconds until engine shutdown.
“Okay, great. Ilyukhina, check the ship for any technical issues,” I command. She gives me a thumbs up as she heads to check on the engines and fuel.
“Dr. Grace-” he doesn’t let me finish.
“Call me Grace. We’re going to be here for a while anyway so throw the formalities away,” Grace says, then getting louder for Ilyukhina to hear, “You too Ilyukhina! Just call me Grace.”
“Alright then, Grace, please prepare the lab for inspecting Tau Ceti’s Petrova line. We are approaching its orbit and will enter it as the engine shuts down,” I finish my thought.
“Right on it!”
Grace heads down to the lab. I find it extremely confusing why Grace is so clueless. Distress and memory fog is normal for coma patients, but Ilyukhina and I are mostly fine. Grace is experiencing the same symptoms in a delayed format. I assume it’s just a complication. I just sit in my seat for a bit. My body needs some relaxation because the last hour has been a mess. Calming Grace, waking up from a 4 year coma, relearning daily functions, and climbing ladders has certainly been quite the challenges for me.
-------
Many hours of labor pass quickly, as they are very time consuming. We finally lay down to rest, but just before Ilyukhina insists on having some ‘celebratory vodka.’ Ilyukhina had somehow convinced Grace, somewhat easily, to drink with her, so now they’re both drunk. Grace much more so as he seems to be a lightweight.
“Cooommander! Come пить with us!” Ilyukhina’s words slur as she slowly gets closer to me, “It’s very весело!” her arm swings around my shoulders. I brush it off.
“Ah, no it’s okay, I think it’s better for me to sleep now,” I reply with a small chuckle. I lay down onto my bed as I hear two thumps. Seems like the drinkers fell asleep on the floor. Never mind them, they’ll survive 8 hours on the floor. I close my eyes and smile as I fall asleep.
Great job team.