Chapter Text
They weren't actually supposed to find anything when they'd set up the first interstellar communications tower on Erid. It was just meant to be a starting point to opening up communication between them and Earth so they could cooperate on sending taumoeba to as many solar systems as possible— not the source of a whole new scientific breakthrough! Yet, somehow, while calibrating the receivers, it had picked up a signal from a not-so far off solar system, only about 5-ish lightyears away from Erid, and the rock-like aliens were more than excited to go meet their newly discovered neighbors; and Doctor Captain Ryland Grace was more than happy to help. After all, how many chances do you get to make first contact with a new species? He has a record to beat!
The strangest part of it all was that the signal seemed almost human in origin— he'd listened to it on loop on the flight there, his brain trying desperately to make sense of the strange recording. It sounded like a distress signal of some kind. There was a siren blaring in the background, the constant sound of fluid rushing in, and countless voices overlaying each other in the midst of the static. Mainly, though, he heard what sounded like a man shouting in defiant rage, though it was hard to make out the words in the chaos. It was almost as confusing as it was fascinating.
So, that's how he wound up back in space, staring down at the odd, red-soaked vessel the Eridian probe had found when it traced the alien signal to an extremely unusual asteroid (or maybe some sort of small moon?) orbiting just on the outskirts of the Luyten 726-8 system. It was far smaller than he expected for an alien craft; just large enough to hold in his arms, and it had no visible points of entry. Just a shoddily welded line along what seemed to be a hatch at one point. Why would they weld it shut? To keep whatever was inside in, or to keep something else out? He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer, but Rocky was adamant that there was something alive inside. And not microbial or bacterial life either— according to him, this thing had a heartbeat.
When the small vessel was brought aboard, the Hail Mary had alerted them that it detected radiation, so it wasn't too terribly hard to convince Rocky to let him handle it on his own, at least for now. There was a bit of an argument, but he had assured his friend he would be extra careful. So, now it’s just him and the strange little ship, sitting in the relative silence of the lab as he works up the courage to begin his investigation.
Reluctantly, he heaves a sigh and gets to work, carefully wiping away the viscous red fluid off the hull from the safety of the glove box (he had learned his lesson from the last time he'd opened an alien capsule without protection, thank you very much,) and sets about recording his findings on video for future reference.
"Okaaay, it seems to be some kind of... submersible vessel, I think? Very... interestingly designed. There's a heavily damaged cage on the front, and some sort of... I dunno, collection mechanism welded on? Possibly a battering ram? It looks fairly worn down and damaged, and it is very, very rusty. Seems to be about... one and a half-ish feet long, maybe? About six inches in diameter, though I'm not the best at estimating by sight, and Rocky has yet to give me back my tape measure... There seems to be these strange, organic growths on its surface, sort of like veins, or maybe vines? I think I can just make out some sort of writing on the side..." he squints, leaning in to get a better look as he cleans the spot with an old rag. His jaw drops when he realizes he can actually read the symbols, "SM-13... Oh my god, it's written in English."
He leans back in his seat, momentarily stunned by the discovery, before he shakes it off and gets back to the task at hand.
"Okay, so either this thing is from Earth, it's got some kinda... fancy universal translation thing going on, or— somehow— aliens have convergently invented the English language. Personally, I like the translator theory the best, but there's no way to know for sure unless we get this thing open. Which... it seems I'm not the first to attempt, as it's covered in exterior damage. It's bent all out of shape, looks like something tried to bite through it... It was leaking like crazy when we brought it aboard, so I'm sure I'll find more damage on the inside, along with more of this red fluid. It looks... disturbingly similar to human blood. Same color and consistency, and the parts that have dried out are... also distinctly blood-like. Hopefully it's just very iron-rich water or something, but I have my doubts. Whatever it is, that tiny asteroid/moon thing was absolutely covered in it."
He cringes, pulling his hand out of the glove to adjust his glasses before reaching back in for what is essentially a xenonite-tipped dremel to start cutting into the device.
"There are no visible entry points, so I've gotta do this very carefully. Rocky said the thing inside appeared unconscious, so I'm gonna hope that's still true. I'll turn it on a 45° angle just in case, that should keep our little friend well out of harm's way. And... I guess there's not much left to do but... cut."
His frown deepens as the little nib starts semi-loudly grating into the material, silently praying whatever's inside doesn't get permanent hearing damage while he works as quickly as he can to get through the semi-thick sheets of metal. As soon as he has it at a good enough starting point he shuts the device off, letting out a nervous sigh before turning his attention back to the camera, continuing his narration.
"Alright, the line is cut, I should be able to crack this thing open with my hands now. Just gonna hope whatever's inside isn't sensitive to my atmosphere like Rocky is, and... Welp, here goes nothing!"
He twists the metal like he's opening a thermos, and the cut segment breaks free with a pop. Once he has it open, he hesitates a moment, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before carefully peering inside.
The interior is just as red-soaked as the exterior, if not more so, and he can barely discern where one shape ends and the next begins through all the goop. He reaches in carefully, feeling his way around the small space until—
"AAAHHH!!!!!"
"AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!"
He snaps his hands out of the box like they've been burned as whatever's in the sub (because that definitely looks like the inside of a sub) screams and writhes against his fingers, and he screams back on pure instinct. It takes a second for his brain to remind him that he's trying not to freak out the tiny maybe-alien, and screaming at it is decidedly counter-productive to that mission.
"Sorry," he whisper-yells, cringing as he slowly steps back towards the case, craning his neck to peer back into the small vessel without touching it, "I'm so sorry, I just— I wasn't expecting you to scream like that, and I definitely should've thought before I just... reached in and..."
He can just make out the shape of what seems like a person, huddled in the back of the ship, breathing heavily and trembling in fear as it stares back up at him, and he lets out a sigh as he lowers himself to fully kneel on the ground. He takes some time to observe the details of the submarine's interior, taking note of the control panel the tiny person is pressed up against, a cracked window, and a series of glowing lights labeled O2.
"So you do need oxygen! That's good— I've got plenty to spare! And, uh..." he bites the inside of his cheek, slowly bringing his hands up into view; not missing the way the little person seems to shrink back at the sight, before carefully reaching to lift the barrier between them, "Here, let's get you out of that box, yeah? You'd probably like to get some fresh air, and get outta all of that... red stuff."
He winces a bit when the little creature hisses at him, but doesn't take his attention away from his task. Once the box is open, he turns to grab a pair of sterile gloves before gingerly reaching for the sub again, letting his hands hover just above its surface.
"Okay, here's what we're gonna do. I'm going to try to very carefully get you out of that box, and then we can take this to the sink and we can get you cleaned up. Does that sound good?" He raises his eyebrows, leaning back down to peer in at his small companion for any sign of a response. Instead, their eyes just track his every move, scanning for any sign of ill intent. At least, he assumes that's what they're doing. He doesn't blame them.
"Okay, I'm just gonna... do that, then..."
He moves slowly this time, not missing the little yelp of surprise echoing off the metal walls as he carefully lifts it from where it had been unceremoniously dropped on the table in his shock. He hums in thought, deliberating on the best way to carry the thing before deciding, to heck with it, his clothes will probably be fine, and he cradles it against his chest for the trip to the nearest decontamination station.
"Sorry again for scaring you, this just... wasn't at all what I'd expected when we'd picked up your signal on Luyten 726-8 A C, which we have yet to give a proper name to, so let me know if you have any suggestions— though to be fair I'm pretty partial to the name Aqua Ruberi due to the red fluid on its surface. Which, uh, is where we found you, and I'd really like to know what you were doing down there, but given you haven't really said anything I'm honestly not even sure if you understand English, or maybe you do and you just aren't much of a talker..."
He sets the vessel on the bottom of the sink as carefully as he can, removing the gloves and tossing them in the trash before turning the faucet on as gentle a setting as he can manage, adjusting the temperature to a nice medium-warm before leaning his head and arms along the edge of the basin.
"You don't have to, I'm fine talking for the both of us, though it'd be nice to at least know your name... and, uh, take as much time as you need to come out. I get that this all must be very scary and confusing for you... I know it was for me when I met Rocky, and now, well, here I am! The only human on Erid, going out on a mission to be an ambassador for not one but two species, on a mission to investigate a strange signal from space! Though I'm still not the best with people, so uh... forgive me if I'm rambling, or..."
He trails off as movement catches his eyes, the little humanoid figure peeking out over the edge of their ship at the water rippling below, briefly glancing up at Grace with that suspicious gaze before reaching a hand out to touch the clear stream from the faucet. They pull their hand back after a second, staring at the water dripping through their fingers before turning back to glare at the human with an intimidating snarl, causing him to flinch back.
"Is this some kinda sick fucking joke to you?"
"Wha—" Grace sputters, pulling his glasses down his face and blinking a few times incredulously. "I don't— you— so you DO speak English!"
He laughs in shock, causing the little guy— guy? It definitely sounds like a guy— to recoil a bit with another snarl.
"What the hell is so funny?! You— you're just messing with my head again aren't you?! Am I just some— some toy for you to play around with, a-a-and, fucking— tempt with some sick fantasy of clean water and false kindness?!?!"
His smile drops then, and he stares down at the small man in shock.
"I... I don't know what you... huh?"
"Don't play dumb with me! I've seen through your tricks before and you're NOT gonna fool me again! I'm done with this shit! You really think you can just— act like you don't know the shit I've been put through?! The blood, the death, all the stupid hallucinations you forced into my head?! What kind of a sick God finds pleasure in making people suffer?!?!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Grace puts his hands up, pulling himself away from the being for a moment. "I'm not— I'm not a god, I'm not even religious! Okay, I get that you're probably overwhelmed, and it sounds like you've been through a lot, but—"
"DON'T FUCKING LIE TO ME!!" The little guy screams, and starts trying to climb up the sink towards Grace with a fury unlike anything he'd seen before.
He stands up and backs fully away from the sink, putting his hands back up in what he hopes is a placating manner.
"Okay, okay, I won't lie to you, I'm just— try and help me understand, alright? I'm just trying to help! Why don't we both take a breath and try to calm down because this clearly isn't helping either of us!"
It doesn't take long for Grace to hear the insistent banging of his alien friend at the door, the rhythmic whistles and trills of his concerned shouts ringing through the air, momentarily distracting the small man enough to slip back down into the shallow puddle at the bottom of the sink with a sputter.
"What the fuck???"
"Just— give me one second, okay? We can talk about whatever all that meant in a bit, just... I gotta go handle that, alright?"
Then he was off, rushing to answer the door before Rocky decided to remove it himself.
"Grace and new friend okay, question?!?!"
"Yes! For the love of God, Rocky, I asked you to let me handle this! I'm handling it, but he's very scared and—"
"Rocky meet new friend, make less scared! Rocky fix!"
"Rock, buddy, I do not have anywhere near enough energy to explain to you how much that will not help. It's alright, I've been trained to deal with kids during one of the most stressful times of their lives, I can handle one tiny spaceman!"
"Grace have his turn, make things much worse. Rocky try now!"
"Rocky, I don't think a giant space rock-spider is gonna be any less terrifying for him than a giant human, but if you promise to sit where he can't see you and not interfere, I will let you stay and make sure everything's okay. Deal?"
"Hm... is not as good as Rocky's plan but sure, deal!"
"Okay, so you will stay out of sight until I get him calmed down, correct?"
"Yes, yes, Rocky stay, deal!"
And just like that, Rocky was once again clamoring past him towards the lab, and Grace was chasing after him to make sure he didn't accidentally traumatize the tiny humanoid maybe-alien currently in his sink.
What a way for this mission to go sideways, and it had only just begun...