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The hull shook with yet another groan, hot iron tensing and pulling against itself. Simon knew that whatever beast or eldritch animal that swam in the bloody ocean surrounding him would not hesitate to devour him should the steel fail. He could feel the unending warmth radiate from the metal walls causing his already sweat soaked shirt to sag against his body. He had already shed his hood and first layered shirt, but at this rate he was going to exacerbate his dehydration.
Pulling off his under shirt left him in just his harness, the worn leather pulling at his skin and keeping his shoulders back with extreme difficulty. The heat finally felt bearable, so he continued working. The charcoal map around him was almost done, and maybe by the end of this Ava would let him be free. Maybe he would be able to live to his forties! The hope that filled him was immense and nearly broke him, small tears falling from his eyes, combining with the still present sweat coating his skin. The paper beneath his bandaged fingers was damp and trying to crumble under him, so he grabbed the nearly empty roll of tape and slammed it against the wall, barely able to pin it correctly with the others.
His shoulders and back ached from where he was thrown into the warped iron walls, the blood that leaked in from outside coated his discarded clothes, but the bruises still decorated his skin.
Looking over his work, he could see the path back towards the COI, and he jumped at the chance to return to safety. Maneuvering the sub forward took little work, instinct taking over as he focused on the maps. The constant groaning around him would have driven him up a wall had he not blocked it out as best he could, the seed capsule hanging against his wrist was keeping him as sane as possible given the situation.
Faintly he could hear the speaker crackle to life behind him, a small crackle of static against the hum of his engine. The oxygen meter next to him beeped its displeasure, another light ticked off leaving him with just one light left. He could feel his chest compress as he tried to fight the rising panic. Just a little further and he would be back on the COI radar, he just had to make it a little further.
The speaker finally screamed, the static noise bringing deep relief, “Hello!? Please is anyone there?”
His voice shook as he waited for a response, but there he could hear a click from the box below, "Convict! Is that really you?”
His chest clenched, feeling the building relief trying to escape, but he needed to know if this was real, “What’s my name..?”
His throat tried to close, taking all of his strength with it, “Why does that-”
“NO WHAT IS MY NAME!!!” He felt the roar more than he heard it, images of the past who knows how long flooding his mind.
The speaker remained silent for a time, the wait was agonizing to him, “I-....I don’t know.”
He sobbed, falling to his knees, “You’re real… How are you real…? Thank fuck you’re real.”
“Convict, how are you still alive? You should have run out of oxygen days ago.”
“I don’t know! All I have is one light left, and a fucked up map with several blood trails coming from the walls!” His left hand connected with the inner metal plating, causing pain to lance up his arm, “I-I have the sample still…Please get me out of here…”
The director was quiet on the other end of the line, her voice sullen when she next spoke, “I don’t think that's possible anymore…”
“I had nothing to do with Filament station, I swear! Please, you said I could go free! I don’t want to be here anymore!”
“I-... I’m so sorry, it’s not a matter of ‘want’ anymore.”
His heart sank, the words damning and deafening, “No… no no no, please no…”
“We can’t risk anymore dives.” Her tone was flat, like reading from a script.
His throat was dry, the dehydration was getting to him, but at this rate it might not even matter, “So… you’re just gonna leave me down here?”
“I’m sorry.” He wished he could see her face, see if she was lying, because the way she spoke just hurt worse.
“Did…did anyone else make it out?” He didn’t know why he asked, maybe the faint hope for the remaining humans pushed him, or maybe it was so she didn’t leave him to the silence again.
“Yes.”
“Did you know them? Did you know their names? I remember you saying I was the only one down here, but I saw the SM-8, and thought they were a bunch of unfortunate bastards while looking at the records, I almost didn’t recognize the name due to a massive hole in the hull…” Why was he still talking?
“Wait-”
He heard the other operator, the one still alive after the camera fiasco, but he couldn’t remember the guy’s name, “Did he just say the SM-8?”
“Convict you saw the SM-8!?”
“Y-yeah,” Confusion raced through his mind, why would they care about that ship? “It’s down here, not too far, my computer tried to upload some data from it.”
“That’s not possible.” Her voice came out sharp, something else lied underneath, maybe hope?
“I’m not lying! It was trying to download something about a black box!” He was yelling again, energy too high for the tight space he was welded in.
He could hear faint arguing coming from the speaker, the thing was barely holding on by a couple wires, “How far did you say the SM-8 was from you?”
“Not far, maybe a few hundred meters?” He had it marked on one of the maps, thinking about it now, he had made the right move to make those.
“I’m giving you the credentials, and you are going to get that information.”
His heart jumped to his throat, a sense of true hope crashing through his system, “And then I’m free…?”
“And then you’re free.”
“Ma’am we don’t have the jurisdiction-”
“WHO GIVES A SHIT!? This is my ship, you listen to me! If we’re fast enough-”
“Fast enough? What about our orders!?”
“Fuck them! This is above us!” They were shouting, but he couldn’t care less, he needed to get to the wreck.
“Convict! I’m going to give the credentials, you get the information, and you get to be free. But you only have 30 minutes!” A time limit, he can handle that, he has a dozen times before.
“O-okay! What’s the code for the data?” His heart was pounding as he got off the floor, rushing over to the computer, hands on the keyboard.
He could hear the faint yelling of the other operator calling the director crazy and couldn’t care, “ Press control, alt shift, 9. A window should pop up, username ADMIN, password, all caps ZX11F26A-311.”
“I’m in!”
“Okay, you have 30 minutes to meet us at the original drop spot. Everyone, and I mean everyone, is relying on you.” She sounded stern, but he could hear the hope there now.
His jaw clenched, “And then I’m free?”
“And then you’re free.”
“Deal.”
The sub went quiet for a moment before she spoke again, the distant yelling no longer being picked up by her mic, “By the way…”
He stopped, pausing in front of the controls, “What?”
“...My name is Ava.”
“Simon.” It felt nice, to actually tell another human his name, not having it ripped away and used against him like the ocean so desperately trying to.
“Good luck Simon, let’s get this done.” The speaker shuts off, leaving him alone with his breaking mind and leaking submarine.
The trip towards SM-8 felt longer than it really was. The beast outside was constantly shifting around, making him jump as he tried not to ram into the cliffs around him. The voices had started back up as he drove, pulling at his thoughts and resolve, burning the wick of his mind. Still he kept driving, nearing his destination. The sound of a loading bar stopped him in his tracks, looking down at his console and maps, he had made it. Stepping away from the controls and watching the computer, he gave into the urge and pressed the button for the camera.
The grainy image appeared, showing the wreck of the SM-8, the screen behind him showed a full bar, returning to the query screen. He huffed, pulling up an audio file and hitting play. It was the voices he’d heard the first time, the ones he thought he was talking to before. They sounded like they were dying, just like before, and he couldn’t help taking another photo, just to confirm that they weren’t alive. It showed the same wreck, the same ocean floor, and a fencing of spikes in the background.
He stumbled away, grasping onto one of the pipes, holding on to keep his balance as the crew from the SM-8 gave their final warnings behind him. The voices started begging as he moved away from the back of the sub, the way they spoke sending chills and a horrid sense of nausea through him. The speaker above groaned and static blasted from it causing him to jump, nearly smacking his head on the roof.
“-IMON, SIMON! SIMON, listen to me!”
“Ava? Listen, you gotta get me outta here.”
“Did-did you get it?” Her voice sounded strained, like she’d just been attacked.
“Yeah, but I think I’m sick or-”
“That can wait, that can-”
“I don’t know what’s happening, something must be wro-”
“SIMON SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME! I need you to get something from the crawl space! You need to get it and keep it safe, okay? No matter what happens, you keep it safe! Do you understand?!” She was breathing hard and breaking him at the same time.
“What? You can’t be serious!” The rage from before flared to life, stirring his blood, “I just went through hell to get this!”
“Simon, I know what I said! It doesn’t matter anymore!” He could barely hear her past the blood rushing in his head as panic started to rise once more, “You are the only one who can fix this! The only person who can save them!”
“B-.... We had a deal!” He pulled at the pipe he was hanging onto, feeling the steam inside move through it.
Ava is silent for a moment, “I know… But not everyone gets to be saved. This is bigger than you, bigger than me. I- I’m so so sorry Simon. You deserve your freedom…I’m sorry that I can’t give that to you…”
“..What am I looking for…” His chest ached and he could feel the emotions rising in his throat, choking him with the weight of it.
She sobbed, the speaker barely picking it up from her end, “It’s a black box, in the crawl space-”
Her voice cuts out with a horrifying scream, leaving him with the voices in his head. He thought he heard the crunching of metal beforehand, but thinking too hard about it would make the slowly rising bile in his stomach spill forth onto the blood-soaked floor. Shaking his head, he knew deep down that he had just listened to Ava die by the jaws of whatever has been haunting him this entire time. Moving over to the already open crawl space, he peered into the dark, staring at the far glow of heated metal.
Taking a deep breath, he dropped into the flooded space, holding the seed in his hand as he moved, keeping it between him and the pipes. Along the back wall he could see a panel, pulling it open revealed bundles of wires, and a small black box, a set of cords keeping it connected to the sub. Prying it from its space, he heard the small pattering of footsteps above him, sounding so real, frightening him more than he already was. He disconnected the cords and wires, holding the box above the flood, and moved back towards the opening.
Small rivers of blood were flowing from there, filling up the space he was in. Rushing and nearly slipping, he threw the box above him onto the deck and started pulling himself up, just as a heavy slam against the hull threw him down. The voices in his heard were screaming and all he could do was try to cover his ears from the searing pain.
“Don’t listen Simon!” The beast was speaking again, calling to him.
“SHUT UP YOU AREN’T REAL!”
“I AM MORE REAL THAN YOU!” Pain raced through his skull, the bile in his throat spilling onto the floor beneath him.
Rising to his hands and knees he pulled the lifejacket from the loose first aid container, “This is bigger than me…”
“Simon please! You have to stop!”
“Bigger than all of us…”
“You don’t understand, this is what the light wants!”
The light…? He remembered seeing it, at the beginning, it was one of the first pictures he took. It made his ship shake, the waves shoved him further along his trip. It wasn’t that far from here, could that be what caused the damage to the SM-8?
“Is… is that what’s been causing everything…?” Why he was speaking to the single voice driving him mad right now, he couldn’t tell you, maybe as a form of remorse, or prayer, but still, the spark of curiosity held, even as he was close to dying here.
The voice didn’t respond for a moment, maybe sensing something he couldn’t, something far beyond his comprehension, “Yes, Simon. Sending out that box will doom everyone. Not just you, not just Ava, everyone.”
“Why…?”
“The light caused the Rapture. The planets looked to it for guidance, they prayed to it like a God. It devoured them whole, leaving nothing. Simon, there’s no going back. No fixing the past mistakes.”
He stood, slamming his hands against the walls, body shaking, “SO ALL OF THIS WAS FOR NOTHING?! I WAS SENT HERE TO DIE, JUST THE SAME AS EVERYONE ELSE?!”
Sobs shook him as he slid to the floor once more, tears clouding his vision as he stared at the little box Ava was so desperate to sacrifice everything for, “I know… I’m sorry I couldn’t stop them…”
His heart broke, hearing the remorse from a being beyond him, his broken sobs filling the sub. He doesn’t know how long he sat there and cried, but a small layer of blood was starting to fill his deck. The warm liquid was soaking his pants and filling his shoes, burning the red coloration into his very bones.
“Why me…?” His voice jumped past salt laced lips, filling the silence left behind.
It didn’t respond immediately, leaving him to think he was finally alone, before gentle words drifted into his mind, “You’re… somehow you are different to the others. Filled with a hope only children would have. A blessing and a curse given the state of everything around you. Maybe… Simon, may I ask what you would wish for, it could be anything.”
“Anything…?”
“Yes, Simon. I only have so much to give, but for you… For you I would try.”
He rose to his feet again, picking up the black box, and puncturing the life jacket around it, somewhere beyond the walls of the SM-13 a wail rings out, full of rage, “I wish to live.”
The voice chuckles, the tone watery and tight, but filled with a faint mirth he’d heard dozens of times from his brothers and sisters, “Okay, repeat after me then. ‘My name is Simon and I want to live.’”
“My name is Simon,” The computer system started to blare behind him, screaming out failure after failure as the hull started to crumple around him, “And I want to live!”
The world exploded around him, teeth carving into the sides and tearing the iron around him. Blood filled the cockpit, drenching him in warm liquid. He slipped and grabbed onto the broken piping, feeling his skin stick to the metal. Horrible red vines were creeping up his arm as he pulled against the hot steel, throwing the box against the wall, he tried desperately to pull himself off with his right hand. A heavy lurch sent his face against the wall nearly knocking him out.
The voice was screaming something as he finally wrenched himself free, pain flooding his nerves and setting his body alight. Against whatever was left of his better judgement, he had started laughing, or maybe it was crying, the sound was too similar at the moment. Looking down, the sight that filled him was pure red, and the bone that was connected to his arm was broken and sticking out of the stump that was left behind. The blood had filled the room up to his chest, the warmth sucking the last of his strength from his body, leaving him floating in the middle.
“Goodbye Simon. May the world we go to bring you love and peace.”
And everything went black.
* * *
Ryland Grace was a very intelligent man, a very very intelligent man. So then why could he not fathom an explanation as to why a metal container resembling an Earth submarine was currently sitting in Adrian’s atmosphere, barely in reach of the Hail Mary? Rocky was sitting on the other side of the lab messing around with the original xenonite line from their fishing trip. Grace wasn’t quite sure the purpose for it, but he wasn’t up to asking yet. Instead he was sitting in front of the whiteboard writing theory after theory and crossing them out just as quick.
“Grace thinking loud. About human ship question?” Grace jumped, hitting his elbow on the lab desk.
Rubbing at the future bruise, he nods and turns to the Eridian, “Yeah, I have no idea how it got there. It wasn’t there yesterday!”
“Rocky see it on screens, odd shape statement.” Rocky wasn’t wrong, it was an odd shape with no porthole, and the single window on the front was shattered with a metal shutter keeping the inside safe.
Grace rubbed his eyes, pushing back against the swollen bags beneath them, “I do have to wonder though…”
“Oh oh oh! Maybe more humans! Maybe Grace no longer alone exclamation!” Rocky skittered over to his ball, throwing himself towards the cockpit, knocking more things over in his haste.
“Wha- Hey! Wait for me!” Rushing after his friend, the two ended up back in the pilot seat, shifting the Hail Mary towards the sub. Piloting the Mary closer, Grace gently, or as gently as he could given his track record, to the submarine, lining up the airlock with the broken window. Unclipping himself from the seat and pulling himself towards his suit, Grace debated whether or not this was a good idea once more. Against his better judgement, he continues towards the airlock, slipping his helmet on and closing the pressure door behind him. He hooks himself to the chamber and pulls the lever, opening the airlock.
Floating towards the sub, he pulls the ship closer, properly lining up the window and airlock. Grace then pulls a tool Rocky made from his belt, the shape similar to a blowtorch, and works to seal the two surfaces together, creating an air tight space. Grace wasn’t going to risk whatever was in there dying to suffocation in the lacking atmosphere of deep space. Placing the torch back on his belt, he knocks gently on the metal shutter, hearing a slight shifting on the other side.
“Hello?” His voice was tight, feeling how tense his body was, “Is anyone in there?”
“Grace being cautious, silly silly silly.”
“Hush Rock.” The movement he heard comes closer, a small knock resounding out.
“Hello…?” The voice was deep, but hesitant, and incredibly confused sounding.
Grace pulled at the shutter, feeling the resistance of the metal, “Are you okay in there? We saw your ship just floating out in deep space.”
“Deep space…? How did it…” A small thump hits the shutter, the metal denting slightly, “Please help me! I’m welded in here!”
Grace felt his jaw clench, how could someone weld another person into something and on purpose, it just caused rage to boil in his veins, “Yeah okay, gimmie a second to cut you out, but I will need you to move away from the wall.”
“R-right… Uh, just a warning…it’s very…” The voice pauses, and Grace felt a sense of worry that they weren’t as okay as they were making it out to be, “Well, bloody I guess…and maybe some radiation…not sure on the last one though.”
Radiation, the thing that ended Rocky’s entire crew and nearly took the Eridian before Grace returned to retrieve them, “Hey that’s okay, I’ll warn my buddy that he should prep the medbay and you’ll be right as rain!”
“Rocky prep medical, help human Grace!” The clatter of his feet echoed from his helmet speaker and Grace couldn’t help the small smile gracing his features.
“I’ve moved,” A small grunt comes from them, as well as a gasp of pain followed by a thump, “Shit-”
“Oh fudge are you okay!?” Grace grabbed the torch again, melting the metal and pushing it in with his wrench.
“Fuck…blood loss is a bitch…” It sounded like they weren’t talking to him anymore, more complaining to themself.
Pushing harder against the metal wall, he finally is able to peel the shutter open releasing the smell of iron and fish, and there on the floor, was an actual human, who was actively bleeding out from the stump that should have been his left arm, “Oh my god! Stay awake please!”
Rushing over, he drops to his knees and shoves his arms under the man’s neck and knees, scooping him up and throws himself towards the Mary, “Medical bay is ready, human with Grace question?”
“Yeah Rocky, he’s hurt bad, no idea how it happened but he’s alive!”
Rocky’s orb rolled into view, waiting at the airlock door, holding another one of his new blowtorch tools, “Move quick quick quick, leaky human bad bad bad!”
“Yes yes yes, I know!” Climbing out of the sub with a barely moving person was incredibly difficult and he nearly hit the walls several times before returning to the Mary and flinging himself and his companion toward the medbay.
“Bad bad bad, Grace covered in leaky human, more bad bad bad.” Rocky pulled the airlock lever, closing it off and allowing the central air of the Mary to circulate once more.
Placing the man on the medical cot that Rocky had pulled out, he starts stripping off what little clothing he was wearing. A harness was wrapped around his chest and shoulders and pulling that off only revealed pale skin with blood drying and flaking off his skin. Scars littered his body and half of his face was heavily damaged, the same way his arm was.
“Rocky you can’t be in here okay?” Grace turned to look at his friend, the poor Eridian standing off to the side, watching as Armando came online and began to work, “He said that he might be suffering from radiation poisoning, I don’t want you getting hurt trying to help.”
He paused and moved towards the lab, limbs hesitant, “Okay, report later question?”
“Yeah I’ll report later.” Rocky gave a thumbs down and barreled off, leaving Grace with the unmoving man next to him.
Pulling off his shoes and pants, pints of blood spilled onto the medical bay floor and Grace nearly gagged from the smell invading his still present helmet. He could hear Rocky working in the distance, but he was more focused on the dying person before him. He left the man’s underwear untouched and finally stepped back as Armando went over and began their assessment. He also noted that the man had passed out at some point, both eyes closed and his hair dripping blood.
“Multiple fractures located on the ribs, severe dehydration and signs of minor starvation, along with torn ligaments located along the left shoulder. Humeral lesser tubercle broken and missing along with entire left arm, skin is too torn for stitches, further amputation required. Left side of face is heavily damaged showing signs of ripping, left eye is undamaged, skin grafts unneeded. Doctor Grace, please step away, further contamination of surgical area is highly discouraged.” He finally stepped back, leaving the medical bay and returning to the hallway before the airlock.
He finally stripped off the red EVA suit, breathing in the recycled air of the Hail Mary. Dropping the suit to the floor, he stood in the hallway watching as Armando worked, the multiple mechanical arms shifting and pulling at the man’s body. Several held sponges to wipe away the remaining blood as others wrapped and stitched his body, leaving very little skin untouched. Grace finally stepped away, leaving Armando to their work and made his way to the lab where Rocky waited for him.
“Is new human okay, question?” Rocky’s melody called out, the tones lower and quiet.
“So far,” He stopped, holding onto the walls, truly thinking, “I’m not sure if he’ll live…”
Rocky rolled over to him, holding a claw to the xenonite, “Medical arms save human, like save Grace. Have faith statement.”
Grace huffed and gave a weak smile, his skin pulled at the barely healed burn scars, the marks a stark reminder of what the two had gone through, “You’re right, I have to trust he’ll be okay…”
Shifting away, he headed back to the cockpit and pilot's seat, strapping himself in and shifting the Mary. Pointing them back towards their original destination of Erid with a little bit of jank, and they were once again on the move.
Rocky was right, he just had to have faith.
* * *
The first thing he felt upon waking up was pain. Everything hurt, his face, his chest, his arm, or well, lack of arm. He had lost it in the self destruction of the SM-13, and he didn’t think he would be able to stomach going back in there and trying to retrieve it. He remembered seeing a man in red and hearing some kind of melody. Maybe this was heaven and the ocean meant he would die?
“You aren’t dead,” The tone was soft, barely there in the back of his mind, “I’m sorry for the rough treatment, but we are here to say goodbye. May this world be kind….”
They were gone, just like that, like a small piece of something just, faded from him, similar to that of a memory. He wasn’t sure how to feel about some ancient blood deity just disappearing from existence, but they had saved him. Granted him another chance away from a dying world, and a malevolent god that wished to kill everything. Or eat everything, he wasn’t sure of the specifics, and now he couldn’t even ask the one being that maybe had answers
“Eye movement detected,” It sounded like a woman, “What is 2+2?”
“Mrph…”
“Incorrect, what is 2+2?” Why is she asking him a math question?
He finally opened his eyes and was met with a weird robot arm opening and closing above him, “Fff…off…”
“Incorrect, what is 2+2?” Okay, the woman is the robot, it sounds the exact same as the previous two times of asking the same question, and if that arm doesn’t get out of his face, he’s gonna break it.
“Fff…oouurr…” Maybe answering it will make it leave him alone, the pain was making his head hurt and the bright lights weren’t making it any easier to gain his very limited bearings.
The arm moves away, the hand on it opening and closing, almost nodding, “Correct, patient retains cognitive function. Now alerting captain of status.”
Shit, does that mean he’s still in space? But the blood god, deity, whoever the fuck said he’d be able to live and anyone associated with Eden and the COI would kill him on the spot! He felt a burst of energy fueled by panic and tried to sit up, collapsing back onto the bed he was on when the world started spinning and pain flared up and along his spine. Everything that eel had done to him was making its presence known in a very vocal and burning way.
The arm comes back and gently presses him back down, the gesture was so kind, he would have thought it was emoting or actually a real person, if not for the three fingers and monotone voice it spoke with. He could hear footsteps approaching him from his right, the speed was fast, but also chaotic. A small squawk of pain rings out before the footsteps come to a stop.
“Um, hello?” It was the same voice from the speaker, the one that saved him, “Can you hear me?”
“y-yeah…Are…you real?” His throat was killing him, he wished he had some water.
“Armando water, please,” Another arm from the ceiling holds out a container and the person brings it over, finally stepping into view.
His eyes caught Simon’s attention first, bright shining blue surrounded by golden hair and covered by thin rimmed glasses, “W-who…?”
“My name is Dr Ryland Grace, you are currently on my ship, the Hail Mary, on route to planet Erid,” Dr Grace places a hand on his back, the touch gentle but firm as he assists Simon in drinking, “May I ask what your name is?”
How could such a beautiful man be in space? Simon wasn’t sure, but Hail Mary, full of Grace, must be a sign. The water was sterile and stale, so familiar in taste to whatever the COI gave him. He really hoped this angel wasn’t with them.
“Simon,” He was very tempted to take the whole container for himself, “ my name is Simon…”
Dr Grace smiles and it truly feels like what facing a sun must feel like, “Well Simon, I’m happy to see you alive, gave me quite the scare during the whole kerfuffle of getting you in here!”
He spoke with words that were incredibly foreign to him, not in a way in which Simon couldn’t understand, but still very odd, “You said we’re…on the Hail Mary? Is that a COI transport ship?”
Dr Grace tilts his head, the action was incredibly cute, “Er, I’m not sure what the COI is, but my ship was part of an international task force made and sent into space to identify why the star in the Tau-ceti system wasn't dimming. Turns out, the Astrophage has a predator on Adrian, the planet closest to Tau-ceti, that was consuming everything, I named it the Taumeoba. It’s incredibly fascinating and I want to do some experiments to identify how it eats the Astrophage and-”
“Please breathe Dr Grace.” With a sharp gasp, he turns to the side coughing and catching his breath.
He waves a hand as the medical arms shift around him, patting him on the head and pulling away, “Sorry sorry, you just woke up, I shouldn’t be overloading you with information.”
“It’s…okay, but…” He paused, really taking in the room around them. Clean white walls, a hallway that led further in and several cubbies that were filled with boxes and other miscellaneous items littered the area. A tube like structure was also built there, along the roof and about a quarter of the room had a tube ending inside, while it led further into the ship, very obviously following the hallways structure. It kind of reminded him of the old pictures of piping that Martian buildings had.
“This must be a lot for you,” Dr Grace starts, a scarred hand moving to hold the back of his equally scarred neck, “ But please don’t hesitate to ask anything, it’s been a while since I’ve had human company!”
Simon grips the sheets covering him with his lone hand, feeling the pounding in his head fade in and out, it was quite annoying, “Human company? But the COI is the only international….Wait something was killing the stars!?”
“Still not sure what that is,” Dr Grace shifts and stands, kind eyes facing him, but notably giving him space, “But I think you should continue to rest, you still have a lot of healing to do. Armando?”
The mechanical arm moves back towards him, injecting something into his IV, and bringing with it the feeling of drowsiness he hasn’t felt since he was a child, “Coalition…of Iron…or Eden.”
And with that, he’s put faster than the quiet rapture.
*
Simon opened his no longer burning eyes to dimmed lights and gentle singing. Or maybe not so gentle with the tone Dr Grace responded to it, going by the irritated response, he wasn’t quite sure. He remembered faintly that Dr Grace said specifically human contact, so maybe the singing was some kind of animal or pet? Pets weren’t something the people of Eden had, except for the Father. Though his “pets” were other humans, often young children that he had chosen and used. Simon always felt eternally grateful that he had never been chosen, since those children would oft end up dead and sacrificed to the Last Tree.
Sitting up and shaking those thoughts away, SImon shifts his feet onto the floor. Cool tile met heated skin and it had been so long since he felt the chill of a proper floor. His jail cell on the COI ship was always heated and Eden bunks were sweltering with the excess bodies crammed into one room. He wanted to press his face to the floor to feel the cold, but decided that meeting the other person on this ship was more important.
Taking a step felt monumental, but so very easy. He was lucky that after being thrown around a metal death trap didn’t damage his legs too badly. Walking into the hallway, he followed the increasing volume of the voices, Dr Grace’s soft timber meeting groaning songs of chords he was entirely unfamiliar with. Maybe it was an angel? Surely such generous music would only be spoken by one of a higher being.
Stepping into the room, he’s met with, well, a very odd sight that nothing in his life has ever prepared him for. Dr Grace was standing on a table, wearing white sheets that he’s draped across his form, holding some kind of tool that he was waving every which way, and a rock creature. Said rock creature was actively singing and banging around its tunnel, smacking its claws against the side and pointing towards the hallway. All the while, Simon just stood there and watched, seriously debating if he was sure the blood ocean hadn’t killed him and just lied about it. Maybe he should just go back to sleep.
“No Rocky! I am not going to bed, I need answers as to why the Taumeoba can eat Astrophage!” With a hop, Dr Grace lands on the floor, and stumbles falling face first, smashing into the tile.
Rocky, the rock creature, smacks a claw against its face, or what Simon pressumes to be its face, and shifts towards him, jumping and waving at him, “Er…hello?”
“Simon!” Dr Grace jumps back to his feet, glasses askew on his face, hanging just below his chin, “I didn’t think you’d be awake yet! That’s Rocky and he’s an Eridian! He makes sure the ship doesn’t fall apart when I do something stupid.”
Rocky sings out a low tone and waves his claws, pointing at Dr Grace and then the hallway. Simon wasn’t sure what it meant, but Dr Grace glares at him, pointing the tool he’s holding at the Eridian.
“Again, I don’t need sleep!” He pulls the tool to his face and grins like a madman, a very sleep deprived madman from the context he’s getting, “ I need answers.”
Rocky gives what Simon assumes to be a huff of displeasure and turns to look at him. Simon was getting the vibes that he was supposed to help somehow. Taking the silent signal for what it was, he gingerly took the tool from Dr Grace, much to the man’s surprise and gave him a look many others had given him in the past.
“I believe you should sleep,” He was trying for gentle, but the gruff sleepy tone his voice held felt very much not that, “We don’t work the best when tired Dr Grace.”
“Oh…u-uh okay…” His face was red and Simon desperately hoped the man hadn’t been overworking himself to illness, it was always more difficult to fight off anything in space.
Rocky sings a high tune and shuffles in place as Dr Grace walks down the hall towards the bedroom. Rocky then points to him and then Dr Grace before moving away and down his tunnel, following the poor man. Simon stood there holding the tool in his hand for some time, unsure what else he could do. Instead of touching anything, he set the tool down on the table that Dr Grace was standing on, before taking a seat at it.
Eventually, he turned to look at himself, studying what all was done to him while he was asleep. He had on a loose pair of orange pants and a shirt with the words ‘I had potential’ written across his chest. His feet were covered with thick white socks and he could feel rubber bumps along the bottoms, helping him keep traction on the tile floor. He really hoped that neither of them would ask anything about the scars scattered across his body. The stories were rough around the edges for him and he didn’t really want to subject an obviously scarred man with more scarring stories.
Also, why was he wearing bedsheets?
* * *
Why did Simon have to be hot?
Grace’s poor little sleep deprived brain couldn’t handle the way the very obviously traumatized man was gentle with him. Especially since it had been well over a decade since he’d had any physical contact with someone who could actually touch him without dying in the process. Rocky had noticed and cheered in triumph when Simon had gotten his magnifying glass away from him, following him all the way to the dormitory, and continuing to cheer when he laid down.
“Grace heart rate high. Grace need sleep. Calm down statement.” And there were those musical chimes, coming from the xenonite tunnel next to him.
“Can’t, gimmie a bit to chill.” He just couldn’t think of Simon, easy.
Not easy, it’d been thirty minutes and his heart was still badumping away in his chest. The phantom heat of Simon’s hand on his was causing goosebumps and shiver to wrack his body in a way he hadn’t felt since his ex. Oh god what if it’s just because he hasn’t been in contact with a human in so long his brain chose the first one he’s met? He doesn’t want that!
“Grace need sleep.” Rocky taps on his tunnel, moving to be right next to his mattress again, “Why no sleep question?”
“I can’t stop thinking about Simon…” His thoughts are out in the air before he can stop himself, and he buries his face in his quilt in shame.
Rocky hums, “Would Simon watching Grace help?”
He throws the quilt off, waving his hands around like he’s trying to put out a nonexistent fire, “NO no no, that would not help! At least…”
He stops, covering his burning face with his hands, trying desperately not to panic at even the thought of said man, “Rocky not understand. New human scare Grace?”
“Huh?” He looks at his friend, his carapace pointed down the hall, very much looking like a defender or knight, “No, just…I have a very complicated relationship with humans. Also, he looks like he’s been through heck and back, I don’t want to overwhelm him or scare him.”
“Grace not scary. Grace leaky space blob, why would Simon be scared of leaky space blob?” Rocky skitters closer, pressing against the xenonite.
“Well,” Grace sighs, laying back down and staring at the ceiling above him, “Sometimes humans can be hurt by other humans. And Simon looks like one wrong move away from hurtling into the deep end. I just want… I just want him to feel safe.”
“Very sweet. Reason silly, Grace stupid when tired. Grace sleep.”
He huffed a laugh, rolling onto his side, facing his beast friend, “Okay okay, night Rocky.”
“Good night Grace.”
* * *
Simon wasn’t sure how long he was waiting around for, but Rocky eventually returned and pointed very aggressively towards the room he woke up in. Rocky was probably used to Dr Grace not listening to him. Simon wasn’t going to fight it, instead he stood up and gingerly made his way back to the bed he was sleeping on beforehand. There on the floor in the corner of the room and quite close to the tunnels, lay Dr Grace. His glasses were falling off and squished against the tunnel, the metal frames bending ominously.
He huffed and puttered over to the man, crouching within touching distance and gently removed his glasses. Warm even breaths came from him and Simon felt a small nagging want arch through his body. The thought of kind and gentle human touch was a burning need in his system and still he pulled away. Dr Grace wouldn’t want to even interact with him if he knew what Simon had done. If he knew who Simon was. It hurt to think about and instead of lingering, he stood up, teetering from his unbalanced body, and shifting away towards his cot.
Rocky watched him from inside his tunnel, a quiet hum coming from his body. His face flushed from the embarrassment of being caught, but he tried to wave it away. Flopping onto his cot, Simon felt the pain in his stump come back almost full force, wavering in his spot until Armando comes down and sticks him with a needle. The liquid inside empties into his arm and he feels the world fade away, gentle music sending him to sleep.
*
Simon woke up to a pair of blue eyes staring at his face, and a dopey smile growing beneath blonde scruff. Dr Grace seemed to be humming something under his breath as he turned away, a chirp following the action. Rocky was waving something around and actively pointing towards a small contraption on the outside of his tunnel.
“Yes yes yes, I’ll turn on the translator,” Dr Grace shoves himself to his feet, still wearing that white sheet, “I just wanted Simon to be awake beforehand.”
More musical chirping and a heavy thrum came from Rocky, his arms crossing and one of his three feet tapping away on the white tile. Simon pulled the clean white sheets off of himself, he was wearing a new shirt with a blue to orange gradient on the chest. Armando came down from the roof holding a metal container and Simon hoped it was full of water like last time. Opening up the container and taking a sip, he watched Dr Grace clack away at the device in his hands, eyes squinting at the screen he stared at.
“Dr Grace, where are your glasses?” Said man jumped and whipped around, eyes blinking before he whipped his head around again to his bed.
Rocky chirps and points, Dr Grace’s glasses were sat on top of Rocky’s tunnel barely balanced and very close to a seem, “Ah, I was wondering why I could barely see…”
Simon suddenly felt very glad he had taken them off the man last night, “Maybe wearing those would help?”
“Yes!” Dr Grace jumps up and stumbles over to the tunnel, slipping the frames onto his face and dropping back to his seated position, “Now let’s set this up so you can understand Rocky!”
Rocky just turned back to Simon, shaking his body and settling down next to the device. Dr Grace continued to work, giving a couple of hums and ha’s, almost trilling as he worked. It reminded Simon of the noises Rocky made, and something tickled the back of his mind, that just maybe, Dr Grace was actually speaking Rocky’s language. Simon was almost positive he was dead.
“Simon understand Rocky?” He jumped, feeling a rush of shock mixed with uncertainty.
“Er…yeah I can understand you.” Dr Grace cheers, standing up and rapidly approaching him.
With a small plop, the device is set next to him, all while Dr Grace stands in front of him, with a smile so bright it was near blinding, “Well Simon, I know you’ve already met, but that is Rocky! I made a translator when we first met so that we could understand each other, but I hadn’t needed to use it until now! Man this is great, I haven’t spoken to another human while sane in so long, don’t worry about that though, oh I need to show you around the ship! And the don’t go crazy room! You seem to need some not crazy, or am I assuming, ugh I thought I got over that, maybe I did? I still have to make food plans as well-”
“Dr Grace,” Simon lifts his lone hand, holding onto the man’s arm, “Please breathe.”
Said man shudders and gasps, finally causing his nearly blood red face to return to its natural pale color, “Sorry sorry, again, I’m not used to humans or…really any other persons besides Rocky.”
“Rocky Grace alone for long time.” The way he spoke was timid and sad, it hurt Simon’s heart to hear it.
“It’s okay,” His hand falls back to the bed, gripping the sheets beneath, “I…am not used to others' kindness.”
“Also you don’t have to call me doctor, just Grace is perfectly fine!”
Simon huffed and felt the small grin form on his face, “Not used to the respect Doc?”
“Nope, not at all, please I beg, stop.” Grace’s voice was pained and he looked like a swift wind would cause him to have a breakdown. It was incredibly adorable.
“Simon see ship question?” And there was Rocky, saving Grace from Simon’s imminent teasing.
Grace jumps and spins, nearly sending himself to the floor, “Yes come on! We’ll go slow so you don’t strain yourself.”
The Hail Mary was tiny compared to the stations Simon was used to. It only had four rooms, and all of them had a very specific purpose. There was the dormitory, which was also used as a medical bay for when someone got seriously hurt. The labs where Grace did most of his work and apparently lost his mind on more than one occasion, given the looks Rocky was giving him. The ‘don’t go crazy’ room, which had walls and most of the floor covered in panels that lit up with different scenes. Simon was tempted to remain there, but with a small plea from Grace, left with every intention to return. The last room was the cockpit, a single chair in the middle surrounded by screens, buttons, and a multitude of levers.
With the final room shown off, Grace led him back to the lab where Rocky was once again working on something. He was pulling shiny threads between six of his fingers, completely focused on the task and only acknowledging the two when they stepped closer. Grace moved over to the back wall of the lab and grinned, a slight mania to his eyes as he gestured to a panel.
“Now I know you probably want to head back to the don’t go crazy room but!” With a gentle tug, the panel opened and behind it was a small sea of green, “This is the last thing I wanted you to see.”
“Are those….” His voice caught in his throat, eyes struggling to believe what he was seeing.
“Spouts from Earth! I know we won’t be going back, and I’m so so very curious as to how you ended up in space, but that's for later, but we still have some plants alive and we could probably plant them on Erid! That way we both have a little bit of home away from home.”
Simon could barely feel the tears rolling down his cheeks as he walked over to the wall, dropping to his knees and just staring at the sprouts inside, “I…I’ve never seen sprouts before…”
Grace hums and settles next to him, “Really? How’s that possible…”
“I was raised in space,” Simon wiped the tears away, trying not to make a big deal out of his emotions, “I’ve never seen… live plants before. How did you get these? How are they even alive?”
Grace gasps and grips Simon’s shoulder, a look of wonder and genuine joy brighten his features, “You were raised in space!? How? We can barely make small stations sit in Earth’s orbit!”
His neck cracked with how fast he spun to look at the other man, his head hurting from the speed, “Earth? But that’s not possible… the Quiet Rapture made everything disappear!”
“Everything? What do you mean?” It was gentle curiosity, not accusatory like Ava or those of Eden.
“All of the habitable planets and stars just, disappeared, everyone who lived on them also disappeared, all that was left were the space stations and a couple moon stations.” Grace seemed to think on that, an odd look flashing in his eyes.
“Well,” He stood holding out a hand, “How about I prove that wrong?”
Simon had every doubt that this angel was telling the truth, but still that ever present spark of hope made him take his hand. Following behind Grace, Simon keeps his head down, watching their feet and avoiding small items littered around them. Grace pulls them to a stop and Simon finally looks up, spotting a window that shows stars. Bright voluminous stars. They covered every inch of the sky from beyond the glass, the stars were still here.
“H-how…are you sure I’m not dead?” Simon didn’t really want to look away but a quick glance would be okay, and the expression on Grace’s face hurt something deep in him, like his blue eyes should never be so close to tears as they were.
Grace just holds his hand, the small smile on his face strained at the edges, “No Simon, you’re alive.”
With that, the dam broke and Simon sobbed. He felt his knees quake as the two sank down to the floor. He couldn’t help leaning into the man next to him, trying and failing to hold it all back. Instead of shoving him away or lashing out, Grace just held him. Gentle hands running down his spine, putting pressure along the ridges and scars. He wasn’t sure how long he would be allowed to do this, but if Grace, no, Ryland, let him, then he would take full advantage. And if he was sinking further into the warmth and safety that was the man’s arms, no one would be any the wiser, not even himself.