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Privacy was something of a complicated issue when building the biodome.
Both Eridians and humans had concepts of privacy of course. Everyone had things that they rather no have known or seen.
That being said, most people didn't live in an entirely artificial habitat that had to be closely monitored at all times. Grace's biodome was nothing short of a technological marvel, and it had hundreds upon thousands of working parts to keep it habitable. Not to mention comfortable.
This meant that there had to be people monitoring things. There had to be sensors and alarms set up to make sure the right people were notified if something went wrong.
There was an exhaustive debate amongst the scientists on if they should have someone monitoring Grace specifically. The idea was to catch any issues before they became major; nevertheless, it was acknowledged that constant surveillance was—at best—ethically uncomfortable.
When Rocky brought up the possibility to the human in question, Grace politely refused the suggestion. He didn't like the idea of every single one of his actions being under scrutiny. Rocky too thought that sounded uncomfortable, and Grace was such an anxious thing. The thought alone could give the human high blood pressure, a condition that Grace explained preluded many human health conditions.
In the end, they settled on Grace carrying a "walkie-talkie" to communicate any urgent concerns to the biodome team. Rocky was still worried about Grace potentially getting injured and being unable to use the walkie-talkie. This concern was somewhat alleviated by Rocky's frequent visits with Grace, confirming the human's condition directly.
What Rocky hadn't anticipated—but should've given that this was Grace—was that the human would neglect to carry his walkie-talkie! Constantly!
He would just forget or decide he didn't need to bring the communication device meant to prevent any number of horrific deaths! It was aggravating! Rocky was going to kill the forgetful blob himself; except, Grace was literally his best friend, and Rocky needed him to be alive as long as possible.
If only the stupid stupid stupid human would cooperate!
No matter how many times Rocky scolded or reminded Grace, the human would inevitably leave the device one day.
Grace was even getting annoyed with Rocky, saying that he was only human and was allowed to make mistakes. Rocky might have agreed if this mistake couldn't potentially kill Grace!
Things all came to a head one day when Rocky came for a visit and couldn't find Grace!
The human wasn't in the house—though the walkie talkie was found on the bedside table—wasn't in the greenhouse, and wasn't on the beach! Rocky did not know HOW they could lose a human in an enclosure, but they had somehow managed it!
A search party of Eridians were called. Rocky was near frantic. Adrian was checking if there was any possibility that Grace could have left the biodome.
While everyone was panicking, Grace nonchalantly appeared, walking out of the ocean! He had the nerve—the audacity—to squint at the search party and ask, "Did something happen?"
Rocky literally wore themselves out yelling at Grace.
Enough was enough. At the very least, Rocky needed to be able to find Grace when checking up on him.
Honestly, Rocky thought they should be commended for their patience and restraint. They did not dictate Grace's schedule. They did not demand additional check-ins. They did not assign anyone to monitor the human.
What they did do was request that Grace notify them if he went swimming.
...and gift Grace glasses with a tracking beacon embedded in them.
They may have also lied to the other Eridians that Grace agreed to this.
Hey, HEY, Rocky knew that this wasn't necessarily the most ethical way to go about things. What were they supposed to do though? Let Grace get lost for days and die of dehydration?!?
No, Rocky refused to let that happen. They weren't technically "tracking" Grace because they only used the signal when other means didn't work. It wasn't as if anyone was monitoring the human's whereabouts.
And, what Grace didn't know wouldn't hurt him.
Every secret came out eventually though. Rocky's mate had always been the better of the two of them. When Grace remarked how it was incredible that the Eridians had become able to find him so quickly, Adrian had paused, sent a disappointed chime towards Rocky, and then proceeded to explain the beacon glasses to Grace.
From his posture, Rocky could tell that Grace was surprised. The Eridian prepared themselves for anger, for weeks of apologies and months of rebuilding trust.
However, Grace said, "Huh, that's actually a great idea. My glasses are the one thing I never forget because I can't see a gosh darn thing without them. Do you think we could install some kind of communicator in them?"
