Chapter Text
On the way to Erid
"…and there are somewhere between 195 and 249 countries on Earth, the number varies because no one can fully agree on what a country is, since some are disputed territories and some are occupied by other countries and so on. But that's the gist of Earth's governing bodies. What are Erid's geopolitics like?"
"How did humans even manage to come together to send your ship to space, question? You can't even agree on the number of countries you have."
"Hey now. Well alright, you have a point. But we are capable of working together when something is dire enough. The United Nations, that's not really a governing body, it's a formal international organization where representatives of 193 countries try to work together to keep the peace. It was created eighty years ago, after World War Two. It doesn't work that well most of the time, but it's better than nothing. They voted on it and assigned someone to be in charge of the project. That's where Stratt, my old boss came in. They gave her almost unlimited power in her role, and she used it to get everything she needed for the project to succeed."
"She must have been quite formidable."
"I… yes. She was. Still is, hopefully. I've never met someone with such clarity of purpose. She made… a lot of difficult decisions, things that were necessary for the good of the planet long term, but painful and devastating in the interim. And she never wavered. She just did what needed to be done…
Anyway! Stop distracting me and tell me about Erid's governments."
"We don't have countries. We all live in clusters, most of which are connected by trains. Within each cluster, there are smaller ones for different specialties. For example, I'm part of the engineering cluster and Adrian is part of the environmental science cluster. For each cluster, there are "politicians" as you would call them, but their role isn't to make decisions for the rest of us, but to call for thrums when a decision is to be made. They're more conduits than leaders.
For planet-wide decisions, the role of calling for a thrum falls to the Entities. They are Eridians who in the past made great contributions to Erid, so that when they died the mourning thrum was so great it covered the planet. The planet listened and brought them back. The oldest Entity is 17,000 years old and the youngest is 1,000."
"You guys have reincarnation??"
"New word."
"It's a belief that when a person dies, they're reborn in a new body to live a whole new life. There's no evidence of it though, it's just one belief system among many."
"Yes, like that. It's only for Entities though, not every Eridian. They molt their old carapace, and grow a new one from the materials surrounding them in their grave. That is why it is very important to pick the best materials when building a grave."
"So they just come back to life as themselves with a new skin?"
"Yes. Most often, their new purpose is tied to the work they did in their first life. I'm sure they'll want to meet you when we get to Erid, I'll introduce you. Just be aware, as a form of respect, their names are pronounced with all five gas bladders. And they all have a meaning. I'll give you the translation to use as their name in your tongue, you shouldn't name them yourself. It would be rude."
"Oh. Ok, sure. Is… was me naming you Rocky rude? Does your name have a translation I should be using instead?"
"No. I like being Rocky. My name doesn't have meaning like an Entity, so there's no translation for you to use. Don't worry."
As Grace ages, and his body starts betraying him, Rocky basically moves into the biodome. He only leaves for emergencies and for thrums dealing with Grace's health. Grace feels guilty for monopolizing him, but he's so grateful for the company he doesn't say anything. It's almost like being on the Mary again on those long four years where they were each other's entire world. Though Rocky created an Erid-atmosphere outcropping attached to the house so that he and Adrian could still watch each other sleep without having to be in the xenonite suits all day.
One day, about a year after Rocky moved in full time, Grace wakes feeling better than he has in months. His joints don't ache as much as usual, he has enough energy to get out of bed and even walk for a bit. He convinces Rocky to go down to the beach with him for the day. "C'mon bud. We'll have the biodome team make it a warm and sunny and make a day of it."
Rocky grumbles but agrees. "But you're still taking your wheelchair. It works on the sand now, and I don't want you getting tired and stuck down there."
"Deal. Let's go make sandcastles."
"I'll win."
"It's not a competition!"
"I'll still win."
"Ugh!"
Towards the end of the day, after they finished their sandcastles (Rocky won), Grace can feel himself winding down. "Hey Rock, you mind if I take a little nap for a bit, here?"
"I don't mind, let's go back to the house."
"No, no. Napping on the beach is a popular human activity. I want to stay out in the sun, I think. It's warm."
"Grace…"
"Please?"
Rocky lets out his version of a sigh. He hasn't really been able to deny Grace anything for the last year. "You sleep, I watch."
"Thanks buddy. I love you."
"I love you too. Always."
Grace drifts off. Soon, his heart starts slowing down. And then slowing down even more.
Rocky stiffens as he hears it. "Grace? Grace wake up. Grace wake up now! Grace!"
Rocky shakes Grace to wake him and pushes the emergency alarm he's taken to carrying everywhere with him to call the medical team in case Grace gets injured.
The team gets there immediately, but it doesn't matter. This is the one thing they can't fix. Grace is gone.
There is an agonizingly loud noise echoing through the biodome. Rocky wishes it would stop. He needs it to be quiet so he can hear Grace's heartbeat again. It takes him an embarrassingly long time to realize it's coming from him.
He manages to cut himself off. "We have to.. we can't… he has to wake up."
"Savior Rocky…"
"Don't." It's the angriest they've ever heard him speak, so they pull back.
Doc cowers. "I'm sorry Savior Rocky. We'll leave you be and send for Adrian."
"We need to plan the funeral, my love."
"Adrian… what if we're wrong and we bury him and he wakes up. He'll be so scared. "
"You'll be right there with him, my harmony. You'll hear him."
"But if we bring him out to our atmosphere he'll burn."
"We'll put him in his atmosphere suit. He'll be comfortable."
They dedicate themselves to collecting the best stones for his cairn. Rocky weaves him a new suit. He mixes the strongest bonds he can create into an indestructible shell for him. Grace will forever be safe from all harm. Rocky will make sure of it. He engraves patterns throughout the suit, so that forevermore anyone who hears Grace will hear how beautiful he was, and how loved.
Adrian brings smooth round rocks harvested from the deep ocean, because Grace had said they reminded him of colorful Earth pearls. They lay them in a halo around his head.
The biodome team, Grace's fellow teachers, and all of his students all bring at least one precious stone to surround him. All strong, some with pleasing shapes, some in shapes ordinary to Eridians but beautiful to humans, because they knew he liked them. Every stone a precious reminder that he was loved.
Even the Entities come and lay their stones, before going their separate ways. Everyone knows this mourning thrum will encompass Erid. They need to go to every corner of the planet to help spread it.
It takes a week to choose the best spot for Grace's grave and complete his suit and the cairn. Rocky keeps working on autopilot the whole time, because if he stops to think he will collapse and never get up again. He feels like he's back on the Blip-A surrounded by silence again. Erid is always loud, but the lack of Grace's heartbeat is louder.
How is he supposed to survive this? How can he even lead a mourning thrum? He's going to be screaming discordant notes instead of the gentle song Grace deserves.
"I can't do this, Adrian."
"Yes you can, my melody. I'll be with you the whole time. We'll do it together. Look, we left a spot just for you, so you can rest on his chest. I'll be right there next you."
Rocky shudders. If he was human, he would have cried out his weight in tears. He'd be the leakiest leaky space blob there ever was. As it is, he's been emitting a low level note of distress since he felt that first skip in Grace's heartbeat, and it takes everything in him not to just start screaming. But no, Grace deserves a real mourning song.
He climbs onto Grace's chest, and gratefully takes Adrian's claw in his. He's not alone. Adrian is here. Adrian misses Grace just like he does. He focuses on that, and starts the thrum. Adrian joins him immediately. The Eridians around him, those who also knew Grace, join in. It spreads to the rest of the cluster, then the next cluster, then the next. It's discordant at first, Rocky unable to keep to one note and everyone joining in with their own pain. He eventually finds the right set of notes to share his pain. It has a rhythm like Grace's heartbeat, because he's been living his life to that rhythm for years now. He doesn't know how to be without it. The thrum follows him. Grace is beneath him. He can almost convince himself he can feel Grace's heart beat again. Rocky keeps singing.
Grace floats. He feels both impossibly heavy and light as a feather. He's surrounded by light. He's completely in the dark. He doesn't have a heartbeat. His heart beats in tandem with the core of the planet's impossible rhythm. He's no one. He's the planet (which planet? Where does he belong?)
Grace opens his eyes. He's at Tau Ceti, floating in the void above Adrian. He can see the atmosphere below him. The beautiful planet that was almost his grave, and the source of his salvation. He's wondered, over the years, if there was intelligent life on the surface. There was an active biome in the atmosphere, just like on Erid. Wouldn't it make sense for there to be more the further down you go?
He wishes he got the opportunity to study it more. The Eridians were understandably reluctant to send another populated ship into space just for curiosity's sake. But they were working on creating automated equipment that could be be used to collect samples. Their own little Curiosity Rover. The knowledge he shared of Earth's space programs rocketed their technology forward, he has full faith they'll succeed. He just ran out of time to be able to see it for himself.
…you could…
What?
…you could see it yourself. You just have to choose…
Choose what?
…Choose to wake up…join us…
But I'm dead.
…for now…
Grace blinks. He's on Erid. He can feel the very air vibrating. He's laying at the top of a hill, with a view of the ocean on one side, and a truly astoundingly large number of Eridians on the other. He's covered in darkness and can see the whole world. Rocky is on top of him. For the first time, fully laying on his chest with nothing between them. Grace tries to speak, but nothing comes out. He can't move. He feels like he's both in his body and outside of it. He can feel Rocky's weight, a comfort he's often dreamed of, now finally gifted to him in death. Beyond Rocky, he can see/feel/hear the Eridians thrumming. Rocky is thrumming. Grace thinks he can actually hear it now, feel it in his body without pain. It's a mourning thrum. Rocky is leading it. He can practically taste the sorrow. It's all-consuming. Oh, buddy.
Grace tries to focus on the rest of what he can see/feel/hear. He can never stand to listen to Rocky's pain, and now he can't even move to comfort him. He tries to see how far the thrum goes, or how far he can sense it.
…pretty far, it turns out. He follows it out of the cluster, to the edges of the continent. He finds the Entities scattered around the entirety of Erid, acting as conduits to connect the continents together along great distances.
The entire planet is thrumming his mourning song. Including the planet itself. The vibration of the thrum is penetrating the surface, down into the mantle, and further down into the core. He can sense it. His heart is beating with the rhythm of it. It's almost like his normal heartbeat, but just slightly alien. Yet it fills him with a sense of belonging. He is home. He knew Erid loved him, but this…outpouring of grief for just him… it was overwhelming. If he could still cry he would be sobbing.
…return to us…
The voice… it buzzes and echoes like it's coming from everywhere. The thrum. Rocky… you know I can't.
…yes you can… Erid will provide…
Provide what? A new body for me? I'm dead!
…You know how entities are made… you just have to accept…
But Entities are Eridian!
…you are Eridian now…ours…to love…cherish…protect…
Can I think about it?
…yes…always your choice…
Oh. Thank you. Is… do I have to stay here while I think?
…Can go anywhere. Just think of where you want to be…
I'd like to see Earth one more time, I think.
The noise of the thrum recedes. Grace blinks, and finds himself at a beach.
Not his beach, but familiar to him all the same. San Francisco. It's beautiful. It looks different than he remembers. The sea is further back than he expects, like sea levels have dropped since he was here last. Oh. The astrophage-induced ice age probably froze enough of the world's oceans to lower sea levels globally. How long until they return to normal? The sun warming up again wouldn't get rid of the aftereffects of cooling so soon. An ice age doesn't just turn off.
He tries to feel for it, but he doesn't sense the Earth's heartbeat like he did Erid. Makes sense, he supposes. There's nothing left here to tie him to the land. Certainly no thrum connecting the world. Maybe he really is fully Eridian now. He wonders if anyone he was close to is still alive. His mind flashes to Stratt.
In the next blink he's in a small, cozy room. It's quiet, sunlit. A long-term care facility, from the looks of it. The woman on the bed turns to look through him. He's not really here, he thinks. It's just his mind sputtering visions as he dies (…you know that's not true…).
She looks at him. "Dr. Grace?"
Stratt??
No. No way. She'd be over 90 by now. And crucially, on Earth. Where he is not. There's no way he's actually in the same room as her right now. It must be a hallucination. Though she definitely looks like someone in her nineties. No Grace, stop indulging your delusions. (...you asked to see her…we provide….)
NOTStratt looks at him curiously. Not afraid. He doesn't think he's ever seen her look afraid. "Are you here to usher me into the afterlife? You look different than usual."
"I look different? I look different?? You're the one who's too old to be my dying hallucination! My imagination isn't that good!"
MaybeStratt cocks her head at him. "You think I'm your dying hallucination? That's quite the inverse of what I was expecting."
"I mean, I don't know. I went to sleep, and next thing I know I'm laying on top of a hill with Rocky leading a mourning thrum. I've been kind of bouncing through star systems since then, which is pretty impossible to do in a human body, so I don't have any other working theories."
"Perhaps you're just dreaming, then."
Grace thinks about that for a bit. "I don't think so. I think I do know what this is, I'm just afraid to believe it. Do you feel like a dream?"
"No, I'm quite certain I'm real and alive. Though I suppose I can't guarantee that second point. I thought I was doing pretty well, but I am over 90. One becomes accustomed to the idea of dying at that age."
"Well, yippee for you. I've barely made it to 70. I wasn't really ready to go yet, but double gravity is rough on the heart."
"Yes, I imagine it would be. I am sorry, Dr. Grace. Are you here to lay out your final grievances before going on to whatever is next for you?"
"What? No. Is that what you really think of me? That with my last dying thoughts all I'd want to do is go yell at an old woman?"
"I apologize, Dr. Grace. It wasn't meant to be an insult, but well, you are here. What is your dying wish then?"
"To hold Rocky properly, of course. With our atmospheres, we could never truly touch, except for that one time that almost killed us both."
"That's surprisingly romantic of you. I didn't realize you had it in you."
"Just rolling with the insults today, aren't we?"
"That's not…" Stratt sighs. "You must actually be real, I forgot how impossible you were."
"Ha! Thanks. Rocky always said I was so stubborn I could start an argument with a piece of furniture. Which is rich coming from him."
"You two must have driven each other crazy."
"We did. I wouldn't have had it any other way. We're lucky Adrian puts up with us, honestly."
Stratt studies him quietly for a minute at that. "Why are you here, Dr. Grace? If your last wish is to hold Rocky, shouldn't you be on Erid trying to do that right now instead?"
Graces sobers at the question. "I was. I could feel the whole planet thrumming. Rocky was laying on my chest, Adrian was right next to him holding my hand. I couldn't move. He sounded devastated and I couldn't do anything. I needed to get away. Plus I… wanted to see Earth one last time. I have to make a choice, and I know what I'll say, but I wanted this opportunity to say goodbye."
"I suppose I can indulge you then. If you don't have a time limit you should explore Earth. See what you saved. I recommend the Equatorial region in Africa, especially Uganda and the DRC. They fared the best, weather-wise, and so had many initiatives to keep various plant species alive. The coastal nations were badly hit by constant storms, but they're doing an admirable job recovering, so Indonesia and Brazil are good examples of what we endured. Many of the northernmost countries almost completely emptied, and people are only recently starting to migrate back."
"Thanks for the recommendations. I'll think about it, but I'm not sure how much time I actually have. I don't want to make Rocky wait longer than he has to. In the meantime, I'd like to know. How… how many did we lose? Did people work together?"
"Altogether we lost three billion. Some people did work together, which is why it wasn't worse. Not all, which is why it wasn't better. We had resource wars. But at least all the pollution from dropped bombs and decomposing bodies warmed up the atmosphere and gained us another couple of years."
"Lordy, that's dark."
"Yes, well. They were dark times. We did what we could. We created greenhouses and habitat zones around the world to keep as many plants and animals alive as we could. The extinction list ballooned. Estimates are that we lost about half of all earth animal species. Even getting a number for the insects is out of the question, but it's not good. Plant species fared better. We had set up multiple seed vaults around the world in the hopes of replanting once the beetles came. Temperatures are still stabilizing, but replanting efforts are going well."
"Thank you. I tried not to think about it too hard, you know? Once I made it to Erid. There was nothing more I could do. So I waited to see if the Sun would regain luminosity. When Rocky told me the news, I felt like I could finally take a full breath. But I couldn't know anything beyond some sort of space program remained, so at least some of Earth survived. It was all I could ever really know."
"Hm. Seems like you might be visiting because you had some unfinished business on Earth."
"Are you suggesting I'm a ghost? I suppose I am in a way. I don't think it'll stay that way. I guess I also just wanted to see you one last time. And yeah, I wanted to know how Earth was doing and I could always trust you not to mince words. I've spent… a long time thinking about what I would say to you if I could ever see you again. Stupid, I guess. I knew I never would. But I never really had closure, after our final conversation. Maybe you didn't need closure, or the Beetles were enough for you, but I did."
"And what did you decided you wanted to say to me?"
"It changed, over the years. I spent a long time angry. Even though it worked out. Even though I wouldn't have met Rocky if you didn't do what you did. That made me angrier sometimes. That I was grateful to you. That day was the second worst day of my life. I had nightmares about it for the rest of my life. And if it hadn't happened I would have lived a much sadder life on Earth than what I ended up with. And I was even angrier at myself for not just saying yes in the first place. You should have just drugged my coffee. Let me go to sleep in my lab and wake up on the Mary. At least I'd have one less traumatic memory. But that wouldn't have been fair to you, huh? You wanted me to say yes. You wanted me to validate your faith in me. How angry were you when I said no?"
"I was more sad, I think. Disappointed. Not really surprised, I knew the chances of you saying yes were low. But I hoped. The anger came later. After the Hail Mary took off and I had all the time in the world to think while rotting in prison. I resented you. I knew you could do it. But you'd put it on me to be brave for you. And here I was stuck with the memory of you scared and begging me for your life, and I knew you'd haunt me forever. I envied you. You got to get away from this dying planet, become a hero and die peacefully."
"I didn't want to be a hero. I just wanted to live with my feet on the ground."
"I know. And I didn't want to be the villain. We both had to give something up for this world."
"You're not a villain."
"Tell the judge that threw me in jail and the protestors outside the courthouse."
"Why were you in jail?
"Copyright infringement."
Grace looks at her incredulously at that. "Pull the other one!"
"I'm serious! They sued me for all the copyrighted material we loaded into the Hail Mary's servers. Of course what they really want to get me for was paving the Sahara and blowing up Antarctica, but I had immunity for those. So they came at me from another angle."
"Those were necessary, though."
"Yes, but still horrific. Caused the loss of habitats of many endangered species. Made some extinct even before the incoming ice age could finish the job. Increased the severity of storms in many regions that resulted in loss of life. And until the Beetles returned, it all could have been for nothing. So thank you for sending them. In addition to saving Earth, you earned me a pardon."
"Well. You're welcome. I guess I'll keep it to myself that I shared all the data on the Mary with the Eridians. Disney would probably go after you again if they find out a whole alien planet is watching pirated Lilo and Stitch. They had to start mass-producing light-to-texture devices so that Eridians outside of the science cluster could interact with Earth media."
Stratt doesn't laugh. But she wants to, he can tell. She cracks a small smile at him. "I would appreciate your discretion in this matter, yes."
After a second, she composes herself. "For what it's worth, Dr. Grace, I'm sorry things went down the way they did. I can't apologize for sending you, I would have and have done worse to ensure Earth's survival, but I'm sorry for what it did to you. And I wish I wouldn't have had to."
"Thanks, Stratt. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for running and forcing your hand. I wish I could have been brave back then. I wish it had gone differently, but maybe it needed to happen the way it did."
"Truce?"
"Truce."
"Now sit down, Dr. Grace, and tell me what you've been doing for the last thirty years. I'm sure it was much more exciting than my life."
"Oh I don't know about that, I have a feeling you've glossed over a lot of what you've been doing. I find it hard to believe you just peacefully sat in prison for decades waiting for the Beetles."
"I may have escaped prison after a few years."
"I knew it!"
"I will only tell you about it after you share your story."
"Oh alright.
After Rocky and I made it to Erid, I stayed in the Mary for another couple of months while they figured out what to do with me. They ended up building a biodome for me in the heart of the science cluster. It was huge, I had my own beach and small ocean. I started teaching again…"
….
"You've had a good life, Dr. Grace."
"I did."
"Now will you tell me what this choice you're making is?"
"Yeah. It's not really a choice, though. Just like between coming back here and going back for Rocky, there was only ever one answer I was going to pick. They're offering to let me reincarnate on Erid as an Entity. It's only ever happened to Eridians, and they just grow a new carapace. I don't know what that would look like with a human body, but I'm kind of excited to find out. I'm selfish, Stratt. Even after everything. I wanted to spend the rest of my life studying Eridian life. And I did. But there's still so much to learn. And if I can have more time to be with Rocky, I can't turn it down. I'm scared of what will happen in 400 years when he dies, but that's still 400 years with my best friend. I can't even picture living for that length of time, but I know I want it."
"I'm glad. So maybe I didn't ruin your life."
"No. I don't think you did. In the end, you saved it. Well, technically you tried to kill me and Rocky saved me, but he wouldn't have had the chance if you didn't do what you did. I've held a lot of anger and resentment at you for many years, but I think I'm ready to let it go. Seems petty to keep grudges into a whole new life. I liked working with you, Stratt. Maybe in another life we could have been friends."
"I would have liked that, I think."
"You want to tell me about your adventures now?"
Stratt puffs out the tiniest laugh at him. "You're relentless. After about five years I escaped prison. I mostly lived on boats to escape detection. I think they still mostly knew where I was, but things were starting to tighten up, so they had more pressing concerns. I had a lot of allies, still, but not the money and power to command anyone to do anything anymore. So we had to do everything covertly. Carry out agricultural agreements and give credit elsewhere, engineer cold-resistant crops and share the data for free under anonymous accounts. It was all very tedious."
"Sounds like super secret spy work. I hope the book detailing your life story did you justice."
"There's a couple. They could be worse, I suppose. There's a biographer trying to make another one now, she keeps asking for interviews."
"Have you answered her?"
"No, she can write it with the info she already has."
"You should."
"Why?"
"You saved the world, Eva Stratt. It should get to know the real you."
"Me? I'm pretty sure that title belongs to you and Rocky."
"You know as well as I do that projects like the Hail Mary are the culmination of thousands of people's work. I didn't build the ship, I didn't collect all the world's smartest people to give us a fighting chance. And in a Hail Mary Pass, both the quarterback and receiver are necessary. There wouldn't have been a ball for me to catch if you didn't throw it first."
"Wouldn't you be the ball in this instance? Since I threw you?"
"Alright. The metaphor got away from me. But you know what I mean."
"Yes, I do. Thank you Dr. Grace. I'll take your words under advisement."
"That's all I ask."
…
"I think I should go. I'm glad I got to see you one last time."
"Likewise, Dr. Grace. Say hello to Rocky for me, when you wake up."
"I will." He hesitates for a second. "Get some rest, Stratt."
"Goodbye, Dr. Grace."
"I'm Eridian now, we don't say goodbye." And he moved his knuckles up and down one arm in the Eridian version of there and back again.
Stratt blinked, and she was alone in her room again. She sighed. And then she picked up her phone.
Grace blinked, and opened his eyes on Erid. Nothing had changed since his last visit. The thrum was still going on, Rocky was still settled on his chest. Could he have this every day? Will he be able to withstand Erid's atmosphere and live amongst them when he wakes? He hopes so. He doesn't know what will happen, whether he would still look human or become fully Eridian, but whatever happens he hopes he'll be able to hold his best friend.
Grace let his mind open to encompass the world, and lets one word reverberate through his being.
YES
The thrum grows in intensity. It buzzes through his body. He feels nothing else. It lasts a second. It lasts a year. The weight of his choice settled on him, and suddenly he can feel it, his purpose and his new name, one and the same. Bridge to the Stars. He's going to be Erid's connection to the rest of the universe. Tears start rolling down his cheeks, and his arms finally come up to hug Rocky. He's awake. He's alive.
The thrum goes insane. The mourning note that they've been holding steady for who knows how many days/weeks/months morphs into multiple notes of celebration. He's pretty sure -
Grace!!!!
That's Rocky. The thrum may be going billions strong, but he can still distinguish his best friend in the symphony.
He hums back. It comes out… correct. He just said Rocky's name as it should be said, with no mechanical help. He has Eridian vocal chords. He starts crying even harder. He's holding Rocky, he's speaking Eridian. His biggest wish came true. He has no idea what he looks like now and doesn't care one bit, as long as he can have this it's the best thing that's ever happened to him.
Grace!!! It worked!! You're here!! Join the thrum!
Oh. Could he do that now? No time like the present to try.
He hummed a note to test it out, and joined the cacophony. He knew what he had to say. It was like a script spreading out before him.
…Hello Erid. You have called me back, and I gladly return to you. My name is Bridge to the Stars. I will be your guide and your follower…
The thrum echoes his words throughout the planet, and then it repeats his new name over and over until every Eridian is aware of the birth of a new Entity. This goes on for a full Eridian day, and then the thrum slowly starts to dissipate. In the end, it's just Grace and Rocky thrumming gently together. Adrian stuck around for most of it, but decided to give them some time alone for a bit. As much as Grace loves them, he appreciates it. He doesn't know how long he was dead, but he missed his friend. They're not even saying anything. They're just sharing a comforting song and reveling in the ability to do it at all.
"I'm alive."
"You are. Never leave me again."
"I promise. Can't get rid of me now."
"Good. You're coming home with me, by the way. I'm not letting you out of my hearing. How do you feel?"
"…kinda weird."
"Very helpful."
"Oh hush! I'm just not sure. Am I still human? Do I look the same?"
"We buried you in a suit so your body could withstand the atmosphere. I can hear the suit, still, but it feels different. I don't know if it's just because you're alive."
"I don't feel like I'm wearing a suit. Actually, I'm feeling kind of naked."
"Well…"
"I'm naked! Rocky!"
"It's standard practice! Did you want to grow a new carapace made of your old dirty clothes?"
"Did you know I'd wake up again?"
"No. I didn't let myself think it. Only Eridians have ever been reborn, if I gave myself hope and then it didn't happen I don't think I could have handled it. But I… think I subconsciously still did everything as if you could. Just in case."
"Well. Even though it feels really weird to wake up naked, thank you. But still, you got any clothes for me to put on so I don't just parade nude around town?"
"…"
"Rocky!"
"I'll ask Adrian to bring some! And we can hear through your weak human clothes anyway."
"It's the principle of the thing! And you're not supposed to acknowledge that!"
"You sound less… see through than usual though. I can still hear your heartbeat. But your usual bodily functions are muffled."
"Oh. Well, that's probably a relief for you."
"I'll miss it. Let's go to your doctor so they can check you over and figure out your new health plan."
"Alright, alright. Always go go go with you."
"Don't pretend. You're curious too."
"Of course I'm curious! My whole body's different! Maybe. I seem to still be shaped roughly the same. Though my feet feel weird and I'm a little afraid to look."
200 years later, as an alien ship approaches Erid, Bridge to the Stars waits to welcome them, Rocky by their side.