Archive of Our Own

Drowning. He was drowning. Every time he opened his mouth more blood flowed in.

He fought to get back to the surface. Tears built in his eyes as if flames were behind them. The sting of blood and pain engulfed him. It was not his own pain, someone else was hurting but he was feeling it. He had to get out, had to get to…something…someONE.

It felt like an eternity before he broke through to the surface of the blood. Moonlight shone but it was off. Everything was red. The tears began to fall heavily down his cheeks, he was no longer drowning but he was still suffocating. Standing on the edge of a red ocean.

A hand grasped his waist, turning him with a strength that couldn’t be human. His eyes connected with deep brown eyes that seemed to burn with the rage of the churning blood around them.

Grace awoke with a jolt, gasping for the air he craved so desperately in his dream-scape. Sitting up, he wiped at the tears that still fell down his cheeks. How the human mind can come up with such disturbing imagery will always be a mystery to the former science teacher. Grace kept scrubbing at his eyes to erase what his mind made for him but he still felt the hand on his waist. Like a ghost from the man in his dream. No, nightmare.

It took him another moment of long deep breaths before he realized that there was an insistent tapping accompanied by music coming from the right of him.

Not music, Eridian language. Rocky was becoming more frantic the longer Grace stayed silent. Only some of the words made sense to him, still working on his comprehension without the aid of the translator, “Grace okay, question. Grace no ♫♪♩♪♫♩. Rocky ♪♩♫♪ ♪♪♩ ♫♪♩♪♫♩ Grace. Bad bad bad”

Grace looked to his companion, “It’s okay buddy. It was just a nightmare.” Wiping at the remaining tears Grace turned on the voice for the translator, still too tired to comprehend the constant stream of worry from the Eridian.

“Grace no wake. Rocky try to wake Grace. Bad bad bad” The computer read out the last thing Rocky had said before catching up, “What last word, question.”

Rocky had managed to press himself close to the Xenonite wall, almost like he was trying to reach out to Grace. Grace huffed out a small laugh, Rocky probably knew that he was craving a hug right about now, “You remember when I told you about dreams?” Rocky chirped out a confirmation and stomped twice, “Well, nightmares are bad dreams. Sometimes they are really bad,” Grace sighed, stopping himself from shuddering by wrapping his arms around himself. Not as good as a hug from another but it will do, “so bad that you react physically to them despite still being asleep.”

Rocky was quiet, his claws clicking together as he processed the information. A habit of the Eridian’s that Grace picked up on, whether it was exclusive to Rocky or was all Eridians was yet to be determined. Grace had started to zone out as the silence stretched before Rocky finally spoke again, “Why human brain mean to humans, question?”

Grace gave a humourless chuckle and gave a flippant wave of his hands, “I honestly don’t know. Probably something to do with how our natural chemicals work and react. But how it comes up with the scenarios…It’s one of Earth’s mysteries.”

Rocky stomped his back leg twice to acknowledge what Grace said but seemed unsatisfied with the answer. It was the same when Grace had to explain anxiety. “Grace sleep again, Rocky watch. Rocky no let bad dream happen.” 

Grace gave a real chuckle to Rocky’s irrational response. “Okay bud…Good night.”

Tucking himself back under the covers, Grace made sure to face the Eridian while he settled back down. As he began to slip off to sleep, he could hear the translator, “No have bad dream.” Grace smiled to himself before fully succumbing to his tiredness. This time, there was no blood ocean to greet him.

~~**~~**~~

Grace turned his attention from the Taumeba sample under his microscope to the one he had under the spectrograph. There wasn’t much to do on the Hail Mary other than watching movies, talking to Rocky, or science. And, well, Rocky is asleep and science is Grace’s passion. Besides, if he went to the screen room, he couldn’t watch Rocky.

Grace sighed, nothing changed from one sample to the other, the Taumeba were tricky little things when they wanted to be. And they do not want to be stored in Xenonite. Since discovering that they evolved to escape the incubators, Grace has been experimenting with how just to pass the time. It didn’t matter why, what happened happened. But he wanted to know why. Was there something about Xenonite that it didn’t like? Did Taumeba have an inherent desire to be free? His curiosity always got the better of him.

Leaning back in his chair and pulling down his glasses to hang by his chin, Grace scrubbed at the bags under his eyes. Ever since that first nightmare with the red ocean (it made him feel better to think of it as just red and not BLOOD) and the brown eyed ghost, sleep has not been a friend to Grace. Every night cycle Grace would be haunted by the ghost. It made sleep impossible. 

Speaking of sleep, Grace glanced back at Rocky. He had himself suspended by his arms in the Xenonite tunnel that ran through the lab. He appreciated when Rocky set himself up here. It let him do something during the time he would be asleep.

Grace leaned back in his chair again. His heavy eyelids began to slide close against his will.

The ghost’s hand slid around his waist, the other grasping Grace’s right hand. Almost desperate, not letting the scientist refuse the touch. 

Brown eyes bore into his blue as the ghost began moving them to an unknown song. Grace felt his breath catch staring at him. Many of the other’s features were hidden by the ocean’s red liquid coating him. The ghost was drenched in blood. 

The ghost continued their dance, the unknown song seeming to come from him, words that he could not make out as the ghost’s lips moved. The deep timbre of his voice garbled by the ocean, despite them only wading in the shallow end. 

Grace felt himself be forced into a dip, finally able to look at the surroundings again. Behind him, at least from what he could see while looking upside down, was a massive tree. He could not tell what kind from his angle but it was also covered in blood and stretched to the heavens. Lightning flashed behind it, making it look more angry. Can a tree look angry?

Forcing his head up, Grace looked back towards the ghost. A large moon shone behind the figure. The moonlight casting him in an ominous glow. At least, it looked like a moon, but it was  off. Much like everything else here. But it felt like it was watching them, as if it were a judging eye.

The ghost brought Grace back up from the dip finally. He could feel tears beginning to form as the dance continued. There was something desperate yet intimate in the way he was being held. 

The ghost’s grip on his hand, fingers entwined, unyielding. The strong hand pressing against his spine, pulling him ever closer. That deep reverberation of the ghost’s voice rattling in his own chest, the words still lost to the ocean. But what made it most intimate, those eyes. The brown was swirling with rage and sorrow. Grace couldn’t look away, he was trapped. Not by the hands, but by the eyes. They burned into him.

Taking a chance, Grace held him back. His hand came up to grasp at the ghost’s shoulder. Blood seeped out of the shirt under his tight grip. He was feeling the pain the ghost was enduring. He wanted to take it away. He felt the anger coming from the ghost. It burdened him, haunted him.

This seemed to please the ghost as he continued to move in the moonlight. Blood seeped into Grace’s clothes with how close the ghost was holding him but he found himself not caring anymore. All that mattered was the ghost in front of him, still speaking in the unknown song while dancing under the moon. 

The ghost began grasping at Grace harder, as if he would leave. Fingers desperately clutching at his now soaked shirt but Grace wasn’t going anywhere.

He grasped back realizing that, even though Grace wasn’t leaving, the ghost was. He was slipping from his fingers, being pulled away by some unknown force.

Grace startled from his impromptu nap, nearly falling out of his chair as an alert sounded around him. Looking back at Rocky, the Eridian was beginning to rouse from his sleep, probably also from the alarm. (Were they able to be woken up by outside stimulants?) But unaware that Grace dozed off.

Wait, an alarm? Grace finally tuned into what Mary was repeating over the speakers.

Transmission alert. Incoming transmission from unknown source. Play transmission?

Transmission alert. Incoming tr--

Rocky was now fully awake and scuttling around to get his bearings. When he settled on facing Grace’s direction he stomped twice before chirping, “What happen, question?”

Grace stood, putting his glasses back onto his nose, and made his way to the cockpit, “It appears we aren’t alone out here.” He heard Rocky following him as he directed his attention to Mary, who was still repeating her alarm, and the controls. He looked around with his hands up trying to see if there was maybe a flashing button or something to tell him how to play the transmission. Making a small clap he had one idea to try, “Mary, play transmission?”

He could feel his anxiety rising as he and Rocky settled in the pit. Was it from Earth? No, Mary would know that. Was it an alien? Had to be. Would he understand them? Could Rocky? The Eridian knew English but that didn’t mean that he understood others.

Playing transmission

“Hey, um... Hey, you hearing this? Hello? Hey! Uh, hey, you said not to go into the red! We're in the red!”

Grace sucked in a breath, that didn’t sound good.

Wait.

He understood that. The transmission was in English!

Grace looked at Rocky, who was already chirping and doing one of his celebratory dances, “Rocky, Grace find other human! Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!”

“Rocky-” Grace felt himself shaking, “There’s no way- There can’t be-” 

“What wrong, question?”

“Rocky, there is just no feasible way that there is another human out this far. The odds are just astronomically small!” Grace ran his fingers through his hair, just to do something while he thought, “The transmission has to be old, sent to space years ago.” The Eridian’s carapace tilted down, showing his disappointment. Grace sighed, “Mary, how far away is the origin of the transmission?”

At current speed, it will take 4.618 days to reach origin of unknown transmission, Dr. Grace.

Rocky perked up again, “Not far! We go, rescue other human!”

“Ho-hold on Rocky, that still doesn’t seem right. If they are really this far out and are sending a transmission out there has to be someone with them!” Grace started fiddling with the various switches in the cockpit, trying to see if one can get him more information on the transmission’s origin, “Should we really diverge on the off chance they are actually still there? Maybe they are already rescued! Or what if this is an elaborate trap? What if-”

Rocky cut off Grace’s rambling, “Grace have stupid thought. Other use human language, statement. Other human need help, statement. Where more human other than Grace, question?” 

Grace sighs, Rocky’s right, as usual but the extra punctuations felt unnecessary. 11.9 light years from Earth and they get a transmission in ENGLISH. Even if there are more humans than the one man they are hearing it would be stupid not to check it out. And if it turns out to be a weird alien trap…well, they’ll cross that bridge when they get to it and hope they aren’t the ‘lay eggs in your chest kind’, “You’re right…” Rocky let out a string of pleased sounding chirps that didn’t really translate to anything other than just “happy” and wiggled his front hands in a jazz-like motion.

Now, the hard part, finding the communication equipment. When Grace first saw Blip-A he wasn’t able to locate it, he initially thought that maybe there wasn’t any until he remembered his first day being awake. He wanted to communicate with “Huston” and Mary didn’t say he couldn’t reach Earth, just that it would take 11 years to do so. Grace stopped fiddling with the controls he didn’t know and called out, “Mary, can we send a return transmission?” He started prepping the Hail Mary to redirect her flight path.

Time for transmission to reach point of origin is 1 hour and 43 minutes. Probability of transmission to be received by point of origin, 24%

Grace paused again, 24% chance for his transmission to go through? “Mary, what do you mean?” He started working faster on plotting their flight path.

Time for transmission to reach point of origin is 1 hour and 43 minutes. Probability of transmission to be received by point of origin, 23%

23%? How did it go DOWN in chances? Grace ran his fingers through his hair, ignoring the sounds of Rocky scuttling and chirping in the Xenonite tunnel behind him, “Mary, send the following as a transmission,” 24-23% is still a chance, not a good one but still. Grace stopped himself from chuckling at the irony, he’s sending a hail mary, “Do you hear me?” That’s a stupid way to start, it’ll be hours before they’d even get the reply if it goes through, “I don’t know if you will receive this and it would be a little while before we get your reply but this is Ryland Grace of the Hail Mary. My friend and I are coming for you. I don’t know what being in the red means but if you can hold out we’re coming. It’ll be a few days though.”

Rocky let out some chirps for the end of the message, “Rocky, Grace save new human!” Grace didn’t know if the translator would be picked up by Mary to send. If not, and the person did get the message, they were probably going to be confused by random music at the end. Maybe he’ll think it’s supposed to be comforting.

Transmission sent

Leaning back in the pilot’s seat, Grace let out a groan before sitting up again to help Mary finish plotting the course, “Mary, what can you tell me about this ‘point of origin’?”

Unknown origin is 4.604 days away at current speed. It is located in unknown space. Unknown origin appears to be on a body approximately 4,854 kilometers in diameter.

Well that was…vauge but at least it sounds like they are plotted in the direction. Grace moved his glasses to hang from one ear down by his chin and rub at his eyes, he’s been doing that a lot recently. 

So, what do they know? The transmission is from an unknown origin, from an unknown human, on an unknown…something. Based on the size, Grace would say it is an unknown moon. It is roughly the size of Jupiter’s Callisto, just a touch bigger… Huh, he knew about Jupiter’s moons. That’s interesting. It made sense though, science teachers seem to know little fun science facts. Like that Jupiter had 115 confirmed moons when he was on Earth. The number seemed to keep going up as monitoring equipment improved.

Stop getting distracted! Mary didn’t say it was orbiting anything. Would it still be a moon if it was just floating in space? Does it matter? Maybe it’s sun was dying too? They aren’t going at lightspeed currently so it will take a few days to reach the moon. But he needed more answers now.

“Mary?”

Yes, Dr. Grace?

“Are we able to see the point of origin on our screens?” In lew of a verbal response, the map screen began moving, showing their current course. When it stopped, it was showing a field of dead space. So, no sun or stars, no planets. Just a single red dot in a sea of nothing.

Grace froze looking at the dot on the screen. His mind immediately flashes to the moon. Not the unknown origin moon. But the red moon. The one that had his mystery ghost.

Somewhere to his right he could barely make out Rocky trying to get his attention again, Mary was repeating something. But Grace was trapped in his own mind. With the red moon, the looming tree and the inescapable second not-quite-moon that seemed to watch the ghost and him embrace. Red liquid rising around him, threatening to engulf him.

Seconds bore on. Rocky rapidly bangs on the xenonite barrier as he hears Grace’s heart rate pick up, breathing becoming short and almost frantic. They were the signs that Rocky had learned to mean the human was having a panic attack.

The Eridian hated when this would happen to Grace. How can he protect the human from his own mind? He should have known Grace would spiral at some point with how little he was talking lately. Rocky had just become so accustomed to silence after 46 years. Yet, there were times after meeting Grace that he wondered how he kept himself sane during that time. Meeting Grace had not only given him hope on saving his planet but saved him from his own spiral.

There was no time for the Eridian to get to his ball. Clearly Rocky’s normal methods were not distracting enough to pull Grace from whatever had him trapped within his mind.

Rocky gave Mary the command she was looking for.

Playing transmission

“386… eh, way off. It's not even on the map. Maybe? …hey, what do I do if I find something not on the map? You're not just pretending you can't hear me, right? Why is it so fucking hot down here? What the fuck-!”

Grace startled at the low, warm voice crackled over Mary’s speakers again. This transmission started calm before getting agitated. It had been years since Grace heard swearing. He’d hate to admit, but the swearing snapped him out of his mind more than anything with how jarring it was to him. 

Looking at Rocky, he gave him a sheepish grin, “Sorry buddy, didn’t mean to scare you.” Rocky stamped his back leg three times, “I know. We can talk about it later.” Rocky didn’t seem pleased with his response, Grace felt bad. He seemed to be worrying his companion a lot recently and couldn’t give him the answers he needed. Looking back at the screens Grace put his glasses back on, “That transmission was too quick to be a reply to the one we just sent.”

“Yes yes yes. Received only 159 seconds after Grace sent.” Rocky did a little spin. “Other human sending many transmissions.”

“It sounds like it…” Grace wouldn’t call two as many but who knows how many they aren’t receiving. Or if there were others that Rocky played before Grace had come to, “It also sounds like our new friend is having a bad time…” Rocky chirped in agreement as Grace contemplated speeding up Mary to get to the person faster. What if speeding up makes them miss the planet? It was small, easy to lose, especially with no other astrological markers. Also, what if it makes it harder to get transmissions out and in?

The person is probably using a very rudimentary radio system. Just from what Grace could tell, it was likely a miracle that they received the transmissions they got so far. Or…

“What other human mean ‘down here’, question?” Rocky tapped the Xenonite wall between them.

Grace ran his fingers through his hair, “Sounds like he is on the planet.” Mary did say that the point of origin was ON the moon. “Maybe he’s with an exploration team? It would explain the quality of the transmissions…”

~~**~~**~~

Grace was alone this time the first time he has been since the first nightmare where he was alone in the ocean until the ghost grabbed him. The blood reached his knees, the small waves brushing just over the caps of them. Everything felt hot, almost sweltering now.

The surroundings have sadly become familiar. They hardly changed, if ever. A rumble of thunder drew his attention to the not-quite-moon. 

Normally, the not-quite-moon would be obscured by the ghost, almost like he was hiding the scientist from it. Now that Grace was alone, he was able to look at it in its entirety. It was more oval shaped, and larger than a moon should be. Maybe it was the planet that the blood moon orbited? But that didn’t feel right, nothing felt right. A cold dread sank deep in his stomach as he watched the planet slowly blink. 

It. blinked.

It was not a moon.

It was not a planet.

But an enormous eye! What Grace thought was a grey outline of the moon were actually grey scales surrounding a fiery red and orange iris. Watching every movement.

Falling back into the ocean while attempting to get away, Grace tried to scream, but no sound came out. The only sound that could be heard was the distant thunder and a low, warm voice calling out to him.

Blinking rapidly, Grace felt a tear slide down his cheek. Taking a couple deep breaths, Grace rolled to his side before wiping away the tear.

“Grace have bad dream again, statement.” Rocky was already facing him. “Now time to talk about it, question?”

Grace sighed, rubbing at his face again, “Rocky, I don’t think…”

“Time now, statement.”

Grace sat up with a soft chuckle, “You won’t let me out of it, will you?” Rocky let out a few chirps to confirm. Man, was the rock stubborn, “Alright…” Another sigh as Grace folded in on himself, hands coming up so he could fiddle with his fingers, then deciding to just tuck them between his thighs. He really didn’t want to talk about it, he didn’t know how much his companion would understand. But he did owe him this, “I keep dreaming about this moon…it seems to be covered-”

Transmission alert. Incoming transmission from unknown source. Play transmission?

Bless Mary for her timing. Grace jumped up at the alert and quickly grabbed his glasses, “Guess it will still have to wait, Rocky.”

Rocky let out a stream of unamused chirps and cords while Grace patted the Xenonite wall, “Don’t worry buddy, I’m sure you will pester me about it later.” Grace made his way to the cockpit again while Rocky apparently decided he wanted to be in his ball this time and made his way to it. Probably in case Grace had another panic attack.

Settling in the pilot’s seat Mary’s alert was disrupted momentarily.

Transmission alert. Inco- Pilot detected. Incoming transmission from unknown source. Play Transmission?

Grace left himself unbuckled and rubbed his hands together in the need to do something while waiting for Rocky. The buzz of anticipation and slight excitement was just what he needed to shake the last remnants of the unsettling eye’s gaze.

It almost felt wrong to be so excited about hearing another human’s voice. But, Grace is human and, as much as he loved Rocky, the voice of the translator only left him feeling empty at times. It was part of why he wanted to no longer rely on it. So he could listen to his friend, his best friend, unfiltered.

When the Eridian managed to finesse his way into the cockpit with Grace he finally addressed Mary, “What do you have for us?”

Would you like to play transmission, Dr. Grace?

Grace pouted a little with a huff while a stream of chirps came from Rocky that he’d come to recognize as laughing. He was obviously amused by Mary not understanding casual commands still, “Yes, Mary, play transmission.”

Playing transmission.

“Uh…. Ugh! …Hello? Uh. I had water this whole time? Okay… Oh, fuck that. Stupid piece of shit, you just HAD to chug the whole – …fuck that. Fuck me. Okay… what do I do?”

Grace sat up straight in his seat, that sounded really bad. Worse than the last transmission for sure. For a moment he thought that maybe he was talking to someone else. But the man seemed to be talking to himself. Was his mission taking longer than expected? Was he really alone out there with no one to give him a restock of supplies? He also sounded to be in pain. Something had to have happened. Did he have medical equipment? A first aid kit at least!

Rocky let out a concerned warble, “New human sound <unknown>.” Rocky gave a stomp in frustration, “Need word.”

He didn’t have to ask what Rocky was looking for. They had already translated most of the other options for how the man sounded. Grace reached for the translator, his mouth feeling dry as he swallowed and typed in, <desperate>.

The man was desperately calling out. Calling out to Grace…Okay, maybe not to him specifically but to the scientist, it felt like it was to him. He was in pain, he was angry.

Fiery eyes framed by red-drenched hair flashed in his mind. Grace ran his hands through his hair, leaving them on the back of his head, gripping the short hairs that grew there and resting his elbows on his knees. He couldn’t let himself think of his dream ghost now. Not when someone very real was needing him. “Mary,” he mentally flinched at how weak his voice sounded, “How far are we from the point of origin?”

Unknown origin is 3.179 days away at current speed.

The sound of Rocky’s claws clicking drew Grace’s attention, the Eridian was trying to think, “How long can human go no water, question?”

Grace was worried he’d ask that. He ruffled the back of his hair, needing a moment to convert days to seconds, “ 259200 seconds is the most common answer, also known as 3 days,” Grace moved his glasses to hang by his chin as he sat up to look at Rocky, doing more mental math, “could last 345600 at the longest. If he has another source of liquids either in food or something in the environment he could last up to 604800 but he would need to be very lucky.”

More clicking of claws while the other digested the information. Probably doing his own calculations, “Need hurry.” Rocky rolled his ball closer to Grace who placed his hand on the top of it to stabilize him, “New human need help, statement.”

Grace nodded, “He will need a lot of help.” He tapped his fingers on Rocky’s ball, “Mary, send the following message,” He waited a moment for Mary to indicate she was ready before starting, “I don’t think you got my last message, my friend and I are still a few days out. I promise we are coming for you. I am Ryland Grace of the Hail Mary.”

Rocky interjected with his own musical cords,”and I am Rooocky.”

Grace chuckled, “Yes, and that was my friend Rocky. We will have anything you need, just, hold on. Please.”

Transmission sent. Incoming Transmission.

Grace startled at the immediate response, he is guessing that what Rocky said initially was correct. The person was just sending out a lot of transmissions. So, when the Hail Mary is in the right place at the right time, they will get more than just one. Hopefully that means that the other will get at least one of the two from them, “Play transmission?”

Playing transmission.

“What?!”

There was a long pause. As if he was listening to something. Grace strained to listen to the same thing. He thought he heard a faint computer voice but couldn’t quite make it out. He thought he heard “fire”, maybe “breach” or “hull” but he could be imagining things.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! FUCK!”

Grace flinched at how loud the other was and stopped himself from trying to cover Rocky’s non-existent ears at the profanity. Call him prude but you can’t take the teacher out of him apparently. Grace felt the ball shift as Rocky also seemed to be reacting to the violent reply. It had to be jarring to the Eridian. Grace may have…strong reactions but he hasn’t reacted violently since discovering that the Taumeba could escape Xenonite. He certainly never reacted that way around Rocky. The one time he lashed out with people watching, when he discovered Astrophage was water based, he regretted it. That’s not him, at least, not who he wants to be.

Surely the other wasn’t replying to their first message, it would have been delivered almost a whole day ago. Unless…they were just now getting the reply. 

The transmission continued with the sound of banging metal before it suddenly stopped. At first, Grace thought the transmission ended before the low, warm voice spoke again, more calmly this time but no less desperate.

“Ugh… long time down here. Uh… I'm fucked! Yeah! Okay... Sure. Good. Don't mind me! I'm just trying to go home. Just– just pretend like I’m not even here. I’m sure they’re falling over themselves trying to find me, so… if you see anyone looking for Simon, tell them I’m still alive. GOD–! …damn it. Ugh. I’m trusting you.”

Simon. The man’s name is Simon! Grace felt himself smile a little, he still couldn’t gauge if Simon was actually replying to Grace and Rocky’s first transmission or if he was still just talking to himself. Maybe Simon didn’t even realize he was sending out so many messages but he couldn’t help but feel there was some hope. Even with the earlier message highlighting the desperate need Simon has there was still hope.

He looked at Rocky who was shifting his weight between his legs, not quite spinning but causing his carapace to oscillate in his own form of excitement and learning more about the person, “New human <unknown>.” Grace finally let go of Rocky’s ball and quickly typed into the translator.

<Simon>

~~**~~**~~

Grace was still in the ocean, laying in the blood, propped up on his elbows to keep his head above it. The thick liquid reached just above his elbow in this position. It was as if his last nightmare picked up where it left off.

He wanted to leave. He wanted to run and hide. But the eye was watching. Wherever he went, it would know.

This time, there were flames. In the distance, Grace could see the flicker of a fire, coming from somewhere. He could not ignore them. Only, he couldn’t smell it. No, the smell of iron, the smell of blood. Was too overpowering.

“Hello? Almost there. Hello!? C’mon, c’mon, c’mon… C’mon. Hello!? Come on.”

Grace knew that voice. Low and warm. But here it was almost melodic, as if it was more of a song calling to him.

He tried to stand, to look away from the flames and the eye, but the ground beneath appeared to shift making his movements even less graceful than his usual clumsy self, “I can hear you!” Grace could barely recognize his own voice. It was distorted by a similar melody. As if he could only reply in song.

“Hello?” Could the ghost not hear him?

“Do you hear my voice?” He sang out under the light of the eye.

Suddenly, he was grabbed by the back of his shirt and pulled up. Forced to look into familiar brown eyes. There was less blood covering the ghost’s face this time. Grace could now make out a large bruise forming next to the ghost’s left eye. His lip was split on the same side.

“I'm here. Can you not hear me? I can hear you!” 

The ghost had released Grace.

“I can hear you,” Grace reached a hand up to gently touch the bruise, outlining it with his fingertips. Careful not to prod too hard as to not hurt his ghost further. That’s the last thing he wanted. He wanted to take all the pain that he had endured. Make it so nothing could hurt him anymore, “I feel like I have known you for so long...”

His ghost covered Grace’s hand with his own, a pendant dangled from his wrist. Grace wanted to look at it as it swayed from the movement, but he couldn’t pull his gaze away from the other’s.

Grace felt his ghost’s other hand wrap around his waist again, pulling him in closer. 

He has been here before. He played the game and knew the score.

He brought his free hand to his ghost’s shoulder. Soon they would be dancing under the not-moon again.

“Who do you think it is?” His ghost pulled his hand away from the bruise and held it tightly. Intwining them, refusing to slip from Grace’s fingers again.

He wanted his ghost’s name to mean something. Something more. He didn’t care. It didn’t hurt him anymore.

“Simon.”

Grace blinked awake. He didn’t feel any tears this time, no panic. Just waking up. He had been haunted for so long that waking up peacefully felt almost foreign. He felt like he should be panicking. Was he so desperate for human contact that he had started projecting Simon onto his ghost? He knew nothing about the other! He only just learned his name.

When did he start to consider the ghost to be his?

Regardless, he had Rocky. That should be enough contact for him. It shouldn’t matter that they couldn’t touch. His companionship is enough. Right?

Sitting up with a stretch, Grace felt himself groan as his muscles protested, “Grace have good dream, question?”

Grace looked at Rocky, who was working on a Xenonite chain, and gave him a small smile, “Yeah Rocky, good dream.”

Rocky freed a claw to make his happy ‘jazz hand’ motion, “No liquid moon, good good good.”

Tucking his hands between his knees, Grace bit his lip before nodding, “Yeah, no liquid moon.” Rocky didn’t need to know the truth.

The Eridian had finally gotten the human to tell him the subject of his nightmares. Grace had left out the ghost, not wanting Rocky to feel like he wasn’t enough company for him.

But he told him about the red moon, the tree, and the eye. Trying to explain colors to a species that used echolocation had been…interesting. Hence it was the liquid moon to Rocky, since colors were something that he would not be able to distinguish.

He also had to explain how the stuff in his nightmares didn’t have to mean anything in particular. He could just be worried about what could have been or maybe he saw a movie that had disturbed him so long ago and he was just now remembering. The latter less likely seeing as Grace refused to watch horror films and it certainly wouldn’t keep making a reappearance so frequently.

Rocky had been very concerned about what Grace had told him. It took a while for him to convince the other that there was nothing he could do to “fix” them. They would just have to go away on their own, if they ever did.

Grace threw his legs over the edge of his cot, “How’s that chain coming buddy?"

Rocky held up what he had. “Good good good,” Grace smiled, “Rocky build from what left of fishing chain. Make longer chain fish out Simon.”

Standing up while rubbing his left arm that was starting to tingle, Grace looked at the length of the chain, “Think it will be long enough by the time we reach him?” Grace pushed the latest dream from his mind, he couldn’t project his ghost onto Simon, “We don’t have the best idea of what we are getting into, what resources he will have to get himself out.”

“Grace go down to Simon, get Simon out and bring up.”

Grace frowned, “That’s your plan?”

“No like but cannot avoid,” Rocky stopped building the chain for a moment, “Rocky make ball, protect Grace, protect Simon.”

Nodding, Grace grabbed his glasses, “Kind of like your ball.”

“Yes yes yes.”

“Hopefully he isn’t trapped in anything.”

~~**~~**~~

Transmission alert. Incoming transmission from unknown source. Play transmission?

Grace startled at Mary’s alert. He was working with the Taumeba again. Rocky was asleep behind him.

Taking a glance over his shoulder, he knew Rocky wouldn’t be awake for a while yet. He didn’t want to wait in case they lost the signal. Rocky wouldn’t mind as long as Grace updated him later. Plus, he could see him from the cockpit so he wouldn’t be slacking on his watch duty. 

Grace put away his samples before going to the pilot’s seat, “Go ahead, Mary, play transmission.”

“I… hold on. I think I have a concussion or something. If it’s not CO2 build-up, my head’s not right. I just wanna know what happened. -static-”

The transmission cut out for a moment. This one was definitely weaker than the others.

Grace’s breath caught in his throat. Simon was hurt and he was inside something. He was not only out of water but was running out of oxygen. He stopped himself from thinking of the bruise on his ghost’s face that could lead to a concussion.

“Hey, can you still hear me? Please. I don’t know if you’re just my imagination. I don’t know what’s real anymore. I’ve been losing track of time and… I’ve been seeing some things. Look, I just really need you to be real right now, okay?”

Grace felt tears building, reminded of how disoriented and lost he had been when he first awoke on the Hail Mary. Scared, confused, and, most importantly, alone.

He was right about Simon being alone initially. He was hallucinating.

It could be possible someone else had shown up and he was desperately trying to hold on to the very real person between the hallucinations. Or he was replying to Grace’s calls out to him that would feel like a delusion to the suffering mind. He and Rocky had been sending more out as they were getting closer. Not knowing if they were going through. They were mostly just greetings, the occasional update of where they were, and assurances that they were coming. Maybe Simon had received some of them!

“I just wanna live. Is that so wrong? Why doesn't anybody else want that?”

A sob tore from Grace, unwillingly, as he brought a hand to cover his mouth to try to muffle it. Simon sounded so broken, so lost. So- Grace had to pause his thoughts as he sobbed again.

So, like himself, only Grace had been louder. Begging the guards not to do it. Not to send him away on his one way mission. He too was supposed to die, locked in a vessel, alone.

He had to focus, there was more to the transmission and Grace didn’t want to miss any of it.

“Everyone at Eden just has given up... -Static-”

Eden? What was that?

Where was that? He said ‘everyone at Eden’.

“Isn’t it easier to believe that they’re still there wondering where all of us went? Isn’t that more likely? -Static-”

Were there others? Grace felt his head hurt a little at how often he was contemplating if Simon had been alone from the start or not.

“Just… just— it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t. It doesn’t matter.”

There was a brief pause. As if Simon was collecting his thoughts. Grace had begun to shake as he brought his other hand up to join the first over his mouth. Every breath in was a fight against his own lungs as if he was also fighting a lack of oxygen.

“There’s no back-up system, is there? This piece of shit. They wouldn’t put a CO2 scrubber in this. They wouldn’t put a back-up tank. There’s no deposits down here. This is the end. And I’m wasting my breath talking to a phantom that was never there to begin with.”

Tears flowed freely as he waited to hear anything else. But the silence dragged on. Trapping him with the haunting message.

Would you like to send a transmission response, Dr. Grace?

Forcing himself to take a deep breath, Grace nodded before remembering that Mary can’t see physical responses, “Yes, Mary. Send reply to unknown origin.”

Recording ready

“Simon, this is Grace. I am not a phantom.” Man he sounded horrible. He didn’t think the voice of a man crying would be comforting but he couldn’t let Simon continue to spiral. He had to try, “I am very much real and I want you to live! I need you to live! There is someone out here who wants you to live!” Grace didn’t care how desperate he sounded, Simon needed to know. Of all the messages he and Rocky have tried this is the most important.They had sent out so many. But this one, this was the most crucial. This was Grace calling out to him, “Everyone at Eden may have given up but I will not! This does matter! We aren’t far now, we will reach you! We will find a way to meet up! You just have to hold on.” He sounded so weak by the end, so desperate.

Transmission sent

Grace dropped his head into his hands, making sure that his glasses went over them to not crush them as he finally allowed himself to cry freely. He still didn’t fully know what Simon was going through, but he couldn’t help but think that he would have been in a situation too similar had he not met Rocky.

He didn’t know how long he sat there, letting his emotions get the better of him.

However long it was, it was enough time for Mary to receive the usual second transmission.

Transmission alert. Incoming transmission from unknown source. Play transmission?

They were close enough now that whatever this one could be, it could be a real time reply to Grace.

“You think this is fair? I didn’t blow up Filament Station, but the ones who did aren’t getting punished, just me! I didn’t get a choice!”

Fair? Grace didn’t mention anything about fairness. Was this one of Simon’s hallucinations or was it another person he was talking to?

Wait, what was the other thing he said? He didn’t blow up a filament station.

Well, that’s comforting. That is, if that is true…

But what filament station? Grace didn’t know of any filament stations back on Earth. Let alone any that were blown up. Was the station even on Earth? He’d mentioned an Eden earlier, maybe that is where the filament station was. Wherever Eden was…Now he’s back on that question.

Where’s Eden? Was it on Earth? Has to be, but he never heard of it either. His head was starting to hurt with all these questions. It’s been more than 12 years since he left Earth, there are bound to be places and things he didn’t know…Focus on what is here. Who is here.

Simon. Was Simon some sort of criminal? Would Earth start shipping criminals out to space? But that loops back to, is Simon one? He highly doubted that Stratt, who only wanted the best of the best (who had the comma resistant gene) for the Hail Mary, wouldn’t waste resources on sending criminals. Let alone ones that could fall under the “terrorist” category. 

Grace sucked in a sharp breath, reminded of how little he knew about this man or why he was sent on what was sounding more and more like a suicide mission. So far, he wasn’t liking the conclusion his mind was making. Not everyone was just an unlucky science teacher who had crazy ideas about life not requiring water somewhere out there.

“I just drew the short straw and then I traded one fancy metal box to die in for another, while people that I thought were my brothers ABANDONED ME! They abandoned me, just like they abandoned you!”

Grace flinched, that hurt. Even if Simon was talking to someone else, the words still felt like a stab to Grace. The man who was sent out to space against his will to save a planet he will never see again. By the definition, once he sent out the Beatles probes, he was abandoned.

“What does it even matter if we meet up? Probably not there. I can’t get to the surface and neither can you so WHAT’S THE FUCKING POINT! What’s the point? I just wanna go home. Ugh…”

Surface? Was Simon submerged? Grace’s breath started picking up thinking of the red moon. Did Simon think he was also submerged with him? Or was it the mystery person that may or may not exist. It is hard to get clear details from a man who is running out of oxygen… likely concussed… dehydrated…and who knows what else!?

Grace leaned forward, hanging his glasses down by his chin before rubbing away his tears and snot from crying, “Mary send another transmission,” Mary indicated she was ready, “The point is that we have hope! Simon, we have hope.” Grace took in a shaky breath, “I’m sorry, Simon. I am sorry I will not be able to promise that I can get you home but I can promise that I will be able to get to you! I know I keep asking you this but I need you to hold on. I won’t let you slip through my fingers!” Grace felt himself freeze at his own words.

Transmission sent

~~**~~**~~

“So, run that by me again?” Grace pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Ball suction to Simon vessel. Let Grace cut open vessel, grab Simon. Reel Grace and Simon up safely.” Rocky was now building a Xenonite wall to form the ‘ball’ that Grace was to be lowered in. After Rocky had woken up from his sleep Grace updated him on the important parts of the latest transmissions.

He left out the fact that he was crying and how Simon said that Grace was abandoned. He still wasn’t 100% sure that Simon meant him or if he was talking to someone else or a hallucination.

“We still don’t know just where Simon’s ship is, let alone if we can reach it,” Grace looked at Rocky, putting his hands on his hips, “Are you sure it will work?”

“Need to work, statement.”

Grace laughed lightly, “You’re right…Just don’t be offended when I wear my EVA suit still.”

“Keep Grace more safe,” Rocky stomped his back leg three times, “Good good good.”

“I don’t know if either of the other suits will fit Simon…” Grace started to pace.

They were just a few hours away from the moon. Everything was ready for the rescue mission minus putting the walls of the ball together and how to ensure Simon’s safety if something happens to the Xenonite.

“Grace think stupid, when last sleep?”

Grace glanced at Rocky, “You know when I last slept.” Simon’s last message had left Grace shaken. He didn’t dare try to sleep despite him feeling it calling to him, his ghost calling to him.

Rocky stopped his building and made a low, disappointed, grunt, “Grace need sleep. Can’t save new human Simon if not rested.” The Eridian went back to his Xenonite, “Grace more clumsy when no sleep.”

Grace huffed at that, “I’m not clumsy.”

“Grace sleep, Rocky finish ball and suit for Simon.” Of course Rocky already thought of a way to ensure Simon’s safety. He can build a Xenonite suit that Grace can adjust to size after getting to him. The other had probably already told Grace about it but with how…distracted Grace has been he probably forgot.

Moving his hands from his hips to cross tightly over his chest, Grace hung his head. What they were about to do was going to take nothing short of a miracle. And, despite it all, Rocky was right. Grace would need to be rested. He was going to have to pilot Mary, again, and then lower into an unknown atmosphere to fish out a vessel that he had no idea if they’d even be able to get into. Never mind that he doesn’t know what condition Simon will be in or if he’ll be cooperative if he is conscious. Grace needed to be ready.

“You’ll wake me if something happens?” Rocky did the Eridian equivalent to a nod. Grace sighed, “Okay…Alright…” Grace clasped his hands together, not quite a clap but he needed to do something, “Then I’ll just be…in the other room if you need me”

“Yes yes yes, Grace sleep while Rocky build.”

~~**~~**~~

This time, they were not wading in the blood. Instead they were trapped in a small room. It looked rusted and dreary.The heat of the room was almost unbearable. His ghost was facing away from Grace, hunched over what looked like controls. Grace couldn’t tell if he was actually using the controls at this time. His ghost’s dark hair looked like it could have fallen into his face, but he couldn’t quite tell that either at his angle.

Grace slowly approached his ghost, he noted that this is the first time he’s seen the other completely free of blood.

As he got closer, Grace reached out a hand to gently lay it on his shoulder. This was the first time he initiated the touch.

His ghost whipped around. The brown eyes that Grace had been so familiar with and occasionally sought comfort from were almost unrecognizable. They looked at him like a wild animal that had been cornered.

The bruise by his left eye was still there, accompanied now by a large gash that ran from above his right eye, across the bridge of his nose, down to his left cheek. Grace felt himself freeze, wanting to back away but couldn't bring himself to.

“What the fuck...?”

Grace felt himself flinch at the question. He opened his mouth to respond but found himself drawing a blank. Instead he reached out again, wanting to sooth the other.

His ghost took a step back, taking himself just out of Grace’s reach, “I think I'm sick or something…”

Grace shook his head and followed his ghost, tears pricking his eyes. He didn’t understand why his ghost would try to leave him now, “Let me take the pain from you.”

“I don't know what's happening to me…” His ghost sounded lost, scared almost. He was still looking at Grace like a caged, wild animal. There wasn’t much room for him to continue to back away since the control panel was right there.

“We can figure it out together.” The scientist held out both hands.

Connecting. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Oxygen- fail. Fuel- fail. Engine- fail. Pressure- fail. Hull- fail. Air- fail. Battery- low. Initiating Black Box Recovery Program.

Grace startled at the robotic voice. He was so used to only hearing his ghost’s song that anything else seemed impossible.

His ghost was no longer looking at him, Grace followed his gaze to look at a small battered speaker hanging on the wall. That had to be where the robotic voice was coming from. Based on the battered speaker clipped wires, it should not be working at all. 

Looking back towards Sim- his ghost, Grace was startled at seeing what he initially thought was just another wall to actually be a porthole. 

There was a long, jagged crack running across it, blood leaking through. Grace felt himself shake. They were in the blood ocean. 

He couldn’t see anything pass the red liquid but somehow he knew that the eye was watching them. It came from the ocean, they were in its home. Of course it would be watching them.

He was startled from his own mind by a hand grasping his left arm. The grip was like iron, making Grace look back at Simo- his ghost. What was once a wild look was now replaced with determination. But his ghost was now covered in blood again. 

Welts seemed to be forming on the left side of his ghost’s face, as if the blood was an infection.

It was startling. It looked painful. It looked-

Grace gasped as the iron grip pulled him towards his ghost. The grip only leaving to wrap around his waist, holding him to the other as it has so many other nights.

The second hand never reached for him though. Grace felt unsure of what to do, what to think. He wanted to pull away, to assess what was happening to his ghost but the desperate, iron grip and determined eyes kept him in place. 

Shakingly, Grace moved his own hands to rest on Simon- his ghost’s shoulders.

Something was off. He knew it. His ghost’s left shoulder ended too abruptly. But Grace couldn’t bring himself to look away from the other’s face. He was trying to remember every detail, every injury.

When the submarine shook, Grace clung to his ghost. Refusing to let him go despite what was happening, whatever it was. He would not lose him. Not to the ocean, not to the eye, and not to sickness.

He would rescue Simon.

Grace jolted up feeling something bumping into his cot. A string of chirps and musical cords coming from his left. 

Looking to the culprit, Grace felt around for his glasses, “Rocky? What’s going on?”

“Nearing planet, Grace need to pilot soon.” Even through the translator, Rocky sounded concerned. Maybe it was because Grace was hearing the tone of Rocky’s chirps.

Grace found his glasses and slid them onto his nose with a sigh and then clapped with a smile to hide his anxiety, “Sounds like it's time go then.”

~~**~~**~~

Pilot detected

Grace took a deep breath as he buckled into the pilot’s seat, Rocky scuttling beside him in the Xenonite tube. He was going to need to have access to his controls to lower and raise the Xenonite chain.

Grace was already fitted into his EVA suit so that, once they were in position, he would just have to slide on the helmet. They hadn’t gotten any other transmissions since the last haunting one so they had to assume some of the worse. Which meant speed was important.

Getting into position was going to be tricky. It was a large moon, and the surface seemed to be constantly moving.

Not good.

“Mary,” Grace flipped a couple switches while he grabbed the stick control, “Can you get us a scan of the surface? Try to locate anything that could be human made?”

Processing

Grace felt himself hold his breath while Mary scanned. Rocky was assisting with his echolocation technology but it was a lot to cover.

Human vessel located. Origin of unknown transmissions. 6,458.39 meters below liquid surface. Second unknown body, 6,490.45 meters below liquid surface.

That didn’t sound right. They confirmed that the surface was liquid and Simon was really far down. Maybe he had a really good submersible? He definitely had to be in a submarine.

He didn’t have time to contemplate that for long. Mary was saying that there was something else down there. She didn’t say what it was, which means it is not man made. Not good.

Rocky chirped to his side, “Rocky locate new human Simon.” Grace nodded and started to angle Mary over the coordinates that his companion provided. “Something else down there with new human.” 

“I know buddy, Mary said there was something.”

Rocky stomped twice, “It not normal.”

Grace paused for a moment, it wasn’t like Rocky to be vague like that. He glanced at the Eridian, waiting for him to elaborate. When all he got was silence Grace prodded, “What’s not normal about it?”

Rocky twitched, “Not vessel.”

Grace went back to piloting Mary, “That means it is a creature that lives down there.” Grace glanced at his companion again for just a moment, “Simon isn’t alone down there but we won’t be able to tell if it is friendly or not…”

As he settled Mary into the moon’s orbit, he could feel his body try to lift out of his seat. If it weren’t for his buckles he’d be floating away. To his right, he could see out of the corner of his eye that Rocky was floating before using his free legs to suspend himself so he could continue tracking Simon’s vessel.

Once given the thumbs “up” that looked like a thumbs down from Rocky, Grace finally looked out his port hole.

He froze.

The moon was covered in liquid alright. A deep red liquid. One that Grace thought he would only see in his dreams.

~~**~~**~~

Suddenly, piloting Mary was the easier part of the job. Now that Grace was bracing himself and his equipment and a Xenonite suit in a Xenonite ball that was dropping faster than they expected into the red ocean everything he’s ever done has seemed easier.

Moons usually had very little gravity, why was he falling so fast? Everything about the moon made no sense. If Grace was in a less dire situation he'd have loved to study it.

“Why is it so hot in here?” He needed to hear something other than his own breath right now.

“Grace enter atmosphere, ball heat up.” Rocky’s translator had a crackle to it. No doubt from the depth.”

Grace huffed, “I know that but it’s still just so…I didn’t think it would be this hot.” He shook his head, “How far down am I?”

“4,716.39 meters, Grace ready, question?”

He chuckled, “Do I have a choice otherwise, question?” Why was it so hot?

Was it this hot towards the top of the ocean?

“I thought my suit was better at regulating temperature than this,” He was trying to get some banter from his companion. The only response he received was some crackling. Rocky must be looking at something, “Or at least it would cool down in here once I hit the water.” At least he hoped it was water.

“Moon liquid hot?” Rocky finally replied, making Grace sag with relief that he was heard.

“It’s a possible theory,” He readjusted the Xenonite suit so it was leaning against the wall again, “Wish we had the time to run some tests.”

Grace already felt sweat bead at his temple. He was relieved that Xenonite could withstand massive amounts of pressure. He didn’t want to think about what state he would be in right now otherwise. As in, what state of matter. Surely he would have been pulverised if it couldn’t.

He needed a distraction. Needed to talk to someone. Rocky was so focused that he was unusually silent.

Incoming transmission.

Grace startled at Mary’s voice suddenly playing in his ear. He forgot that his suit hooked into her comms as well.

Rocky’s chirps were heard for a moment before Grace spoke, “Okay, doesn’t hurt now. Mary, play transmission.”

“You think I'm just gonna give you what you want?! Fuck that and fuck you! You wanna eat me?! COME AND TRY!”

“Not friendly.” Rocky’s translator played right after.

“Definitely not…” Grace made sure his cutter was ready, there was no way to locate the hatch from space so no matter where the ball latched on he would have to cut in. “Can you lower me any faster?”

Rocky was silent for a moment, “Not safely.”

“And I won’t be able to convince you to do it anyway?” This time he could hear Rocky’s chirps of confirmation instead of the translator, “Fair enough…at least we know he’s alive still.” 

Any reply he could have received was drowned out by Grace’s own screech as the ball collided with something. There was no metal clang meaning it wasn’t the submarine.

“Grace okay, question?! What happen, question?!” The chirps under the translator sounded frantic, “Rocky pull Grace up! Hit not normal thing, statement!”

Grace groaned a little, having been knocked forward, “No, Rocky. I have to keep going. That thing won’t be going away and we have to get Simon out.”

“Rocky no like plan!”

“I know buddy but it has to be done. Wasn't this your plan anyway?”

Incoming open communication.

That’s new. He must be close enough now. The transmissions must have always been on an open channel. It made sense.

“Oh, fuck me! Oh, fuck me! Fuck, fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Oh, fuck. Come on! Come on! You better be right about this. Fuck. Oh, fuck. Ack-!”

“Simon? Simon, can you hear me?” It was worth a shot, see if the communication was two way at this time.

The thing hit the ball again. This time, Grace was ready. He braced himself on the uneven wall and shut his eyes. Was this creature going between him and Simon?

“Please keep this safe, okay Mom? It's more than me... It's more than me!”

Grace felt himself starting to panic. What was Simon talking about?

“Grace almost to new human Simon, statement!” Rocky was likely just as panicked, “59.02 meters!”

He couldn’t tell if Rocky could also hear Simon through Grace’s EVA suit but right now Grace had to focus. Probably not if Grace had to be this close for communications to open.

“It's more than me. It's more than me…”

“I’m almost there Simon! Just a little lo-” Grace was cut off by a loud clang as his Xenonite ball made contact with the submarine. Both were being jostled by the unknown creature outside.

It took too long for Grace’s liking for the ball to angle long enough against the sub to be able to suction to it. Grace let Rocky know that he was successfully attached and the Xenonite floor retracted so he could begin cutting into the submarine. He tried to ignore the red liquid still coating the sub. It was thick and viscous almost like…he didn’t want to even acknowledge what he knew it was.

The submarine was still being thrashed around, making Grace’s job difficult. He ended up having to use his free hand and both legs to brace himself. 

Grace imagined that this is what a chew toy felt like in a dog’s mouth.

“FINE! You want the Butcher?! COME ON! Fuck you! Die!”

Grace’s hand stuttered at that but he didn’t have time to fully process it. The submarine was violently shoved to the right. Or was it left? It was so hard to properly orientate himself. Rocky’s concerned chirps to “hurry hurry hurry” rang in Grace’s ears alongside the shouting and cursing from Simon. 

It all felt too much. He wanted to end this. To go back to the Hail Mary and curl up under his quilt and pretend like he never got the first transmission. Just hide, in his dreams, with his ghost.

But he couldn’t do that. That was the cowardly part of Grace talking. 

Like Simon said, this was more than him. Simon was real, his ghost wasn’t. Simon was calling out, desperate and yearning. Grace had answered and now he was not going to let him slip from his fingers.

It was so much hotter now. Grace could barely stand it. Was it this unbearable in the submarine?

He was almost half way around his opening when he could hear a computer voice in the submarine.

Hull breach. Hull breach.

Okay, yeah, that’s annoying. Grace tried to tone it out and focus on anything else. The thrashing had calmed down. He couldn’t hear Simon anymore.

Not good.

He stopped caring about a nice clean edge to decrease the risk of tearing the EVA suit going through and focused about getting in. 

Grace felt the bead of sweat roll down the side of his face as he was finally making the last cut into the submarine. Beyond the robotic voice alerting to a hull breach, Grace swears he could hear another voice. A feminine voice that was more faint but he couldn’t tell where it came from. It felt like it was all around him, inside his own head. Drowning out Rocky’s calls despite how quiet it was to him, “We are salvation! We can save everyone, within us!”

Hull breach. Hull breach. Hull breach. Hull breach.

“We live--!”

Grace felt the iron fall away from under his cutter. He almost fell in at how suddenly the wall was gone.

The piece he cut away landed with a loud splash indicating that the submarine was filled with the red liquid. Grace felt the familiar sting of tears and stopped himself from gagging at the worry of what that could mean for Simon. Dropping down into the hole with a squelch of thick liquid. Definitely not water. He took a second to steel himself, wishing he could wipe his face. 

Looking up, Grace was able to angle his EVA suit’s light around the rusted and dreary sub.

He’s been here before.

His light highlighted the carnage that was left of the submarine’s interior until landing on the single occupant.

The man, who Grace felt he could correctly assume to be Simon, was completely covered in the red liquid. Blood within the submarine coming up to his waist. He was bruised and battered and, oh god was he missing an arm? Boils were along exposed skin, as if he was mutating.

Grace opened his mouth to call out when Simon raised his head to look at him. He froze. Grace was looking into deep brown eyes. He knew these eyes better than he knew the walls around him, better than his own blue gaze. He was looking at his ghost.