Chapter Text
'Eye movement detected.'
The world burst to life as the astronaut blinked his eyes open for the first time in what felt like seconds. The bright white interior was enough for him to slam his eyes shut in protest. The budding migraine had already ruined his morning, and his robotic babysitter's question didn't help his mood. A soft groan escaped from his lips as the breathing tube was ungracefully yanked from his throat and set off to the side.
'Cognitive assessment initiated. What's one plus one?'
What he had thought was a few words of dismissal came out as a wheezing hiss.
'Incorrect. What's one plus one?'
He numbly swiped his tongue over his lips, trying to wet them to make some semblance of a sound, "T… hue?"
'Incorrect. What's one plus—'
"Two!" he all but snapped at the machine, and that seemed to give it enough to leave him alone. He wallowed there for a second, breathing in sharp gasps of conscious fresh air. The computer greeted him with a monotone voice as he rolled onto his side and slowly sat up.
For the first time, he took a deep breath in through his nose as the robot spun around him, checking his physical functions. The man nearly gagged at the stench of cat pee that attacked his nostrils.
He was no stranger to the smell despite heavily preferring the company of dogs. His niece had owned a cat, an old, fat creature that had been rescued from the streets by his sister. The cat, dubbed Mimi, came with a myriad of health issues despite being the sweetest to his niece. Trying to clean up after the feline was always a nightmare when he was tasked with babysitting the creature, and it was something he thoroughly disliked. However, the usually quiet man would move mountains for his niece, so he happily volunteered.
The thought hit him hard. Ruolan would be nearly in her mid-twenties now, he frowned mournfully. He had missed half her life at this point, and that thought alone pained him to no end.
Tears welled up in his eyes, but he quickly brushed them away. He was here for a reason. As per protocol, he'd wake the rest of the crew within the next few days and prep for the spin drives to kick off in a week or two. Then they would figure out what was going on at Tau Ceti and send their findings back to Earth. The thought of his impending death hung over his head just as much as the weight of the world, and he took a shuddering breath.
"Be brave…" he murmured to himself, "be brave for those who can't."
That was enough for his mind to still the latent anxiety as he took another whiff and nearly gagged. It was not strong enough to be deadly but enough to make the room unpleasant.
He muttered something about the ship's cleanup function being lackluster as he waved off the robot that offered him a food pack. He snatched the pack with a grumble, easing himself onto the cold floor. Clenching the meal pack between his teeth, he stripped the jumpsuit to his waist and staggered with disused legs.
The spacious room had become more cramped during his slumber, and that confused his drowsy brain. Glass tunnels lined the room, cutting the space nearly in half; he didn't remember anything being added to the ship after they took off. It reminded him of a set of hamster tunnels, only big enough for a medium-sized dog. The structure spread far out into the middle of the ship.
The astronaut pressed his hand against the clear pane, eyeing its oddly geometric shape that projected shimmering rainbows across the walls as the light circled around the space. He looked up at the rotating shimmer and pursed his lips together.
Are we in Centrifuge? When did that happen?
No, it couldn't be. It was far too early for them to be in the Hail Mary's second mode. Some things weren't making sense, but his brain wasn't putting things together. Was this a side effect of the coma? It couldn't be possible to have such a heavy brain fog when waking up, but they did warn the crew of the potential side effects well in advance. Gently wrapping his knuckles against the glass, he only realized it felt unnaturally heavy.
His hand shot away in surprise before going back to place the pads of his fingers on the surface. It was cool to touch, and besides the little flaws here and there, it was a nearly perfect pane. His mind noted the size of the tunnel and scowled at the repeating thought of a hamster tunnel for dogs. He mirthfully rapped on the glass, the thunks sounding foreign to his ears as he stumbled from the dormitory area and into the computer server hallway.
He took a sip of his food pouch in thought, taking his mind off the whirring questions, if only for a second. He was a lot hungrier than he remembered.
The smell of ammonia was worse in the hallway as he stumbled upon the damage before him. A charred trail stretched the entire hallway with spatters of silver coloring the white in a grisly scene. Soot crunched under his padded socks as he walked, but he kept his hand along the tunnel as a way of support.
The hallway spread out into the lab without any effort of climbing, confirming his suspicion that the Hail Mary was in Centrifuge mode. But the facts only brought about more questions.
The science equipment had already dropped into its designated spot, and despite what he thought would be a nice, pristine lab of well-used equipment, he found the exact opposite. Papers and shattered glass littered the floor, giving him a shockingly familiar scene from his memories on earth down in Stratt's Vat in the astrophage research department.
His gaze continued to drift along the common room, following the strange glass tunnel as he went, only pausing when slight movement caught his eye.
For up ahead on the edge of the lab, against the tunnel, sat a lump. The figure couldn't be mistaken for anyone else, despite his face being obscured by his hands. It was one of his crewmates, a fellow astronaut—
Well… technically not an astronaut but a teacher by trade.
The disgraced scientist who helped research and engineer almost everything the Hail Mary had to offer.
Eva Stratt's second-in-command, whose expertise in astrophage pushed the mission to fruition, and upon the death of the Hail Mary's science team, was deemed the one to take over for them.
He disagreed at first, only to have his mind changed at the last minute.
The man who single-handedly saved the mission and whom he had personally moved into the dormitory to become the first out of the crew to go under. It couldn't be possible as he was supposed to be the last of the crew to awaken. Yet here he was wrapped in the Unity Quilt given to the crew before their departure, a physical reminder of the importance their mission held.
And for the first time since he awoke, Commander Yáo Li-Jie spoke with his full voice, "Dr. Grace?"