Archive of Our Own

Eva Stratt was a serious woman, hardly anything broke her stoic exterior. She had a job to do despite what she felt, despite what others thought of her. Nothing would distract her from completing this mission. The Hail Mary project was going according to schedule; they were nine months into the project. She had hosted all the meetings, written down the plans, the launch schedule, the volunteers and their redundancies, even nuked part of Antarctica.

Then she met…Ken?

Stratt had originally asked Dr. Grace if he knew about this Ken character as they shared similar features. She had done a sweep on his past and couldn’t find any living relatives, but perhaps she hadn’t delved deep enough.

She was proven wrong quickly when Dr. Grace stared at her blankly, likely offended by the insinuation. Ken seemed enthused by it. “I have no idea where he came from.” Grace had told her, the tiredness shadowing over his face only enhancing the exasperation he was feeling. She stared at Grace a few seconds longer before finally staring back at the trespasser.

“You said your name was…Ken?” Stratt repeated uncertainly.

“Yes.” Ken smiled. “Pleased to meet you, I’ve heard much about the patriarchy in your world.” Ken held his hand out, he’d read that in a book, it’s polite. A firm handshake showed dominance over the other person. No one shook his hand.

Grace laughed. Stratt gave him a look. Grace bit back his smile. This…man was the textbook definition of a Ken Doll, bleached blonde hair, the attitude, the clothing. It all screamed ‘Ken’. The patriarchy bit, however, was odd. The man stood with an air of confidence, nothing seemed to faze him, an easy smirk resting on his face. No one spoke for a long time, soaking in the fact a real-life Ken doll was in front of them.

“Are you the leader of this big boat?” Ken looked to Grace, chin up in the air with a concerning level of arrogance. Grace put his hands in his pockets, turning to Stratt as a kid would look at their parent for advice. She didn’t say anything.

“Uhm…You mean the Vat. I’m not in charge, not me.” Grace laughed awkwardly, “I’m just a scientist. Stratt is the one in charge.” Grace turned towards Stratt, hands still in his pockets. Ken tilted his head at this information, as if he was about to form a thought. The look then disappeared from his face, that same smirk taking its place. Clearly thinking wasn’t his strong suit.

“That is so badass. You know, Barbie was like that. Very in charge. But she never loved me back.” Ken sighed loudly.

“...Right. I need to get back to reviewing these samples.” Grace looked between Ken and Stratt before making his way back to the lab, no matter how badly he wanted to watch the situation unfold, he still had a job to do.

Stratt had more important things to focus on, this Ken character was a peculiar breach but seemed harmless. And quite pathetic. Carl was well equipped to deal with this breach, that shouldn’t have even happened in the first place; she’ll have to update the security on the vat once again to avoid this predicament from happening again. The walk back to her office wasn’t far, making a left down the corridor and past the labs to get to there. As she opened the door she noticed a reflection, and unfortunately it wasn’t Grace despite the striking resemblance. It was Ken. He had followed her, trailing behind with a lost expression as his eyes explored his new surroundings.

“You were meant to stay with Carl; he will escort you off premises and send you on a flight back home.” Stratt’s tone left no room for arguments.

Ken argued, “But I just got here! And we’re clearly in the middle of the ocean and I don't like flying. I did it once and oh-ho I’ll not be doing that anytime soon. My job is strictly Beach. I don’t fly.”

“We are not near a beach.” Stratt deadpanned.

“But if we were.”

“We’re not.”

“I’m not going. I came to the real world to explore! Don’t shun me, it’s not very feminist of you.” Ken attempted giving his best puppy eyes. Stratt didn’t even need to say anything, her expression said it all; Ken did not know what a feminist was, nor was he leaving any time soon.

Unknowing how to deal with this new addition on the vat, her saving grace appeared before she knew it. “Perfect. Dr. Grace, you are now in charge of this man. He is your responsibility, don’t let him become a distraction.”

Grace sputtered for several moments, “W-what? I can’t babysit him! I’m busy running experiments! The lab’s too dangerous–”

“Dr. Grace, this is non-negotiable.” Grace considered arguing before resigning and turning to Ken with a hint of annoyance, practically dragging the man out of the office with him so he could continue getting his work done in the labs.

In the three hours that Ryland had been stuck with Ken he wanted to throw him off the vat. He hadn’t felt this frustrated since the UNESCO conference in Denmark when he insulted another scientist in his field, a ‘staggering waste of carbon’. Actually, Ryland would consider this worse. “Don’t touch that.” Ryland had told him multiple times. Then Ken delved into his life story, his crush on Barbie, his discovery of the patriarchy, the realisation it’s not to do with horses, the fall of his casa house…He’d yet to come to the realisation that Ryland was going to punch him.

“Ken, I really don’t care about your journey into patriotism. I’m trying to do some very important work,” Ryland grabbed Ken by the shoulders and sat him down on a chair away from anything hazardous. “Now…stay.” He let go of Ken’s shoulders, when Ken threatened to stand up again, Ryland put his finger up, “Uh, I said stay. Now sit and be good.” Ken sat down again. Ryland let out a sigh of relief and got back to work. Until Stratt walked in and Ken immediately stood up again. Ryland glared at him.

Stratt had come to the lab for an update of the progress Grace was making; she knew he had a three o’clock with Dubois and Shapiro. So far all that had been witnessed was Grace trying to train Ken like a dog, hiding the full extent of his annoyance.

“I can't work with him in the lab, he's not listening and I can't focus on two things at once–” Grace began to rant, not caring about the repercussions, he needed Ken to be out of his sight and out of mind.

“I understand, Dr. Grace. Ken, with me.” Stratt gestured her head for Ken to follow her. He was a bit too eager to follow her. Grace shrugged it off, he was glad to have finally had some peace and quiet.

Stratt led Ken to her office, waiting for him to take a seat before she sat in hers. Ken looked around the office, there weren't any decorations or personal items around the room, making it look more professional and business-like. He didn't like it. He wasn't able to express that feeling as Stratt finally broke the silence.

“Who are you? I have done a background sweep and have found out nothing about you except the fact you are named after a very popular doll and found your way onto this ship without being caught by security.” She scanned his expression for any hints of deception, having yet to believe this was an actual living Ken doll. It sounded ridiculous; and this was coming from the same woman that was building a ship to go to Tau Ceti from the sun-eating aliens.

“I'm Ken.” Ken smiled.

“Like the doll?” Stratt wanted to confirm.

“Yes! I'm from Barbieland. I said all of this. But I'm here now because I wanted to explore the real world, apparently, it's not all about horses and the patriarchy. At least that's what Barbie told me. But with my time here I've come to respect powerful women. It's inspiring how you take charge like that after all this oppression you've faced.” Ken spoke as if he had been personally hurt by the history of women's rights and the challenges they've faced, his arms moving as he spoke amplifying his emotion on the matter.

“...Okay.” Stratt gathered her thoughts before continuing on in a calm manner, “We are very busy and it is clear you cannot be trusted to sit still and not be a bother to the other scientists while working, which is why I'm going to have to refer you on a jet back to your…home.” Ken immediately stood up and shook his head, she didn't understand why he wouldn't just leave. He was insistent on staying on the vat.

“No! Please, please let me stay! I won't get in the way.” He pleaded, his entire attitude changing completely. “Please, I swear.”

Stratt blinked, her composure falling slightly at the sudden begging from the man. Usually, she'd have anyone else gone in a flash, security having handled them before she got the chance to issue the order. Maybe she was going soft, having spent too much time around Dr. Grace, but she considered letting Ken stay on vat. It would save her the time and effort of sorting out flights and changing her packed schedule.

Stratt let him stay. No one could believe it.

The first month of Ken’s sudden arrival was…interesting. He wasn't helpful in any way towards the project and had most definitely begun an infatuation towards Stratt. Almost everyone on the vat had noticed. Olesya had the habit of bringing it up, especially on the rare nights they had to wind down.

They were all – minus Stratt – in the room they liked to call the ‘party room’. Olesya was on her fourth shot of vodka, Yao sitting by her trying to hide a smile at what she was joking about. Annie and Martin were off on a separate table, whispering to each other what someone could only assume to be about their sex life. Everyone knew that one. Even Grace, who had been invited into it once and had quickly declined.

Safe to say he still got flustered about that.

Ryland walked into the room, sitting with Olesya and Yao as he usually did. He was pretty sure Dimitri and Olesya were having a drinking competition.

“Grace! Perfect timing. We have questions.” Olesya pulled him down on the chair next to her. Having no choice but to oblige, he shifted. Dimitri handed him a drink, a big grin on his face.

“Loosen up a bit! This is the good stuff, not your American slop!” Dimitri poured him a shot, which was reluctantly accepted. Grace wasn't one for drinking, those days of partying were long behind him. Regardless, he took the shot, feeling the Russians' eyes on him. He couldn't hide the disgust on his face from the taste of the alcohol, only getting over it when he heard what the others were talking about.

“What is going on with that Ken guy and Stratt?” Olesya asked Grace, he faced her with a look of confusion.

“What do you mean? What's going on with them?” Grace asked back. Dimitri began laughing, they clearly saw something Grace hadn't and it was making him left out and even more confused.

Yao explained to him about the bet some of the crew had going on about Ken having a crush on Stratt. Grace’s eyes almost popped out of his head, having expected anything but that. And yet it explained the odd behaviour, the way Ken followed Stratt like a lost puppy, hanging onto her every word, listening to every command. He originally thought it just to be Ken's behaviour but thinking about it further, Ken didn't listen to anyone else with that dreamy look in his eyes. Nor offer kind gestures – kind was an exaggeration, more like…impractical gestures. But the thought was nice. Only if you wanted glitter over your workspace for more ‘positive thoughts’.

“You can't think…Ken? And Stratt? That's- that can't be compatible.” Grace sputtered. The group laughed once again at his reaction, his face red at the insinuation.

“It's obviously one-sided, as you say. Ken is too energetic, too clingy.” Olesya waved her hand about. That sentence was ironic coming from her, Grace would argue she kept half of the team's morale up with her wit and dark sense of humour.

Still, it made Grace wonder. How had Stratt had the patience to deal with him this whole time, he could barely handle three hours in the lab. Grace decided then and there he'd pay closer attention to the growing development which was Stratt’s tolerance for Ken over the next few months.

The third month of Ken's unfortunate stay was…interesting. At least through Grace's eyes. Stratt seemed to have let him in on the whole project, he boasted about having been to space himself. Barbieland space, not actual space.

Grace was heading back to his room for a much-needed nap when Ken stopped him in the corridor. “Ryland!” Ken grabbed his hand and dragged him into a closet and shut the door. Grace grimaced at the proximity.

“Please don't call me– why are we in a closet, Ken?” Grace sighed, trying to focus on whatever the fudge was going on.

“For discretion. Duh.” Ken whispered, “I've seen them do it in the movies.”

Grace didn’t know when Ken had time to watch movies with the amount of time he spent following Stratt and making a fool of himself. He was uncomfortable with the level of closeness they had gained in the past minute of seeing each other, however he figured he was better to encourage Ken to get away from him quicker.

“Okay,” Grace started, barely concealing the exasperation in his voice, “What do you want?”

“I need your help.” Ken stated, looking panicked, his eyes wide and body tense with anxiety. Grace didn’t realise dolls could feel anxiety, maybe he would’ve felt more of a connection to the Ken dolls as a kid if he had known.

“Need my help with what?” Grace questioned back at him, now letting his glasses hang at that awkward angle on his face.

“How do you think Eva would feel if I played the guitar and sang at her for three minutes whilst staring uncomfortably into her eyes?” The words tumbled out so fast Grace had to blink several times before fully processing what Ken had asked. Once he had processed it Grace let out a surprised laugh.

The thought of Ken playing guitar and singing to Stratt, their direct, mission-focused, boss was the highlight of Grace’s year. Ken looked desperate to hear his advice, not looking away from Grace for a second.

“Yeah. I’m sure Stratt would love that. Not like she’s busy trying to save humanity or anything.” Grace said sarcastically.

Ken hadn’t learnt sarcasm yet. Of course he hadn’t, he’d been spending all of his time around Stratt, the one person Grace had known to never make a joke. Ken's eyes lit up at the assurance of his plan, he quickly ran out of the closet, leaving Grace there as he rushed to go and find a guitar from god knows where.

The door of the closet was wide open, Grace trying to understand what was about to unfold due to Ken’s stupidity. Naturally, that’s when Dr. Lokken had to walk by, stopping when she noticed him standing in the closet alone. She raised an eyebrow at the man who was now trying to find an explanation for his odd placement on the vat.

“Ken dragged me in here…” The teacher explained dumbly. Dr. Lokken’s expression didn’t change.

“I didn’t imagine him as your type, Dr. Grace.” She had a smug undertone as she spoke. Grace’s eyes widened, quickly backtracking what he said.

“No! No, no, no…I’m not– We’re not…It was about Stratt!” Grace laughed nervously. Did people really think him and Ken were hooking up? Did they think Grace’s standards were that low?

“Oh? So, the rumours are true?” Dr. Lokken enquired.

“I mean– Wait, what rumours? There are rumours?” His glasses now sat perfectly on his face, finally meeting Lokken’s eyes after getting over his initial embarrassment.

“The rumours of you and Stratt.” The scientist was yet to see the realisation hit him in the face, so she continued, “That you’re hooking up.”

“WHAT?!”

“That’s a no then.”

Dr. Lokken left Grace in the closet to speculate about these rumours being passed around without his knowledge. Surely it was obvious Grace wasn’t interested in Stratt; or anyone for that matter. He shook the thought off before he spiralled too far, he needed to get back to the lab.

If Eva Stratt was told that one day a Ken doll would come into her life and grow an attachment to her, she wouldn’t have believed them. If you also told her she found him tolerable to be around, she would’ve signed them up to an early boarding onto the Hail Mary ship.

Ken had found her in the meal area with everyone else stuck having a late lunch. His guitar was in hand, a determined look on his face as he walked over confidently to where she was sitting. No one battered an eye, used to Ken trailing after Stratt 24/7. Until the strumming of the guitar began to fall over the room, Ken propped up on the table in front of Stratt, staring deeply into her eyes.

By this point, everyone's eyes were focused on the two of them, Stratt expressed no outward emotion at this display.

Then he started singing.

Grace vaguely recognised the lyrics. Dimitri could be heard laughing next to him, not hiding the fact he found this display amusing. Olesya was fumbling to grab her phone, chucking her lunch back onto her plate. Yao was struggling to maintain his usual professional demeanour, especially with Annie snorting beside him and the look of bewilderment on Martin's face.

Then Ken started singing the chorus, “I wanna push you around, well, I will, well, I will” Olesya had her phone recording, cheering Ken on in the background, Dimitri joining her with the encouragement. Yao’s smile finally broke free, unable to hide his enjoyment.

Grace couldn’t believe what was happening. By the looks of it, Stratt couldn’t either. Ken kept singing, his eyes still staring uncomfortably into Stratt’s. Grace expected any emotion on Stratt’s face; humiliation, annoyance, even disgust. None of that was present. Instead, she looked…amused.

Wait, what?

Ryland had to be dreaming. Stratt, his boss who had no time for bullshit, was smiling?

Ken finally finished the song, the longest three minutes and twenty-four seconds of Rylands life. “So…what do you think of that?” He spoke, trying to sound cool, his voice deeper and a smouldering look on his face. “Not that I care or anything.”

“Not bad.” Stratt responded, the stoic look returning to her face before she grabbed her coffee and left. Ken moved his arms in a victory motion. Lokken spit her drink out from behind Ryland. They all sat in utter silence. What was happening between Stratt and Ken for that to be her reaction to Ken singing to her in front of the whole crew.

“That was possibly the weirdest thing I have ever witnessed.” Annie broke the shock of the room.

“Did she like it?” Olesya laughed, “I think she did. Secretly. She’ll never admit it.”

Grace was still in a state of shock.

The next time something unusual happened between Stratt and Ken was during a meeting. They were going over the ship and the astronauts training before getting ready to pack for the launch. There were still months to go before they would be ready, but it was good to prepare in advance.

Ken had grabbed her a coffee, a simple gesture to anyone else. For Ken it was to impress Stratt. He had practically pushed Grace out of the way of the coffee machine, grabbing two large paper cups and pressing a few buttons before the sound of the beans being crushed started.

“Ken, what the fu–dge?!” Grace caught himself, spilling his half full cup on the floor and his jeans. He held back a line of insults building in his head, taking a deep breath and watching Ken fumble over the cups.

“Does she have milk or sugar?” Ken asked hurriedly. Grace blinked and then Ken asked again, his voice going high pitch, “Does she?!”

“No! No, what the heck? She has black coffee.” Grace assured him. He watched Ken put the lids on the paper cups and just as he turned Stratt was behind them.

Ken held out the coffee cups with a proud smile, “Your coffee, my lady.”

Stratt took the cups from his hand, offering a polite smile. “Thank you, Ken.” She left from the room, coffees in hand, leaving Ken beaming with pride.

“This can't be real. I've got to be dreaming.” Grace pinched himself on the arm, having discarded his own coffee on the side.

Ken sighed dreamily beside him, “I know. She actually smiled at me and thanked me.” His hands rested on his hips, shaking his head in adoration. “Today's going to be a good day.”

Grace walked away. He'd find coffee somewhere else. He refused to believe his boss and Ken were getting…polite with each other.

“Morning, Carl.” Grace sighed, walking with him to the instant coffee station. Usually that was only used for people in a rush or late nights, or if Ken helped spill half your coffee down your jeans trying to impress Stratt.

Carl nodded at him, noting the tightness of Grace's smile and the bluntness of his words. By no means was Grace a morning person, but he was still friendly. Carl stood with him as Grace made his coffee, ignoring the milk he usually puts in there to calm the tanginess of plain black coffee.

“Ken again?” Carl guessed. It was always Ken.

Grace just gave him a look, his eyes saying, ‘Who else would it be?’. Ken had been able to singlehandedly annoy every person on the vat. Whether it was to be helpful or not, he had almost eaten astrophage one day because it looked like a snack. He got a lecture from the other scientists about not having snacks in the laboratory.

As he sipped his coffee, shaking away the morning fog in his mind, he kept thinking back to the small interactions over the past few months. First Stratt ignored him, hardly tolerating his need to follow her around. Now she was smiling at him, offering him pleasantries and basic manners. Grace didn't like it. It was weird.

The days continued as per usual on the vat. As they got closer to the launch day, Grace was taken out to help the astronauts with their training more closely. Unluckily for him, Ken was there. Again.

“Ry–”

“No.” Grace immediately shot down the nickname. A few people looked surprised at his direct approach, used to the tired, apologetic Grace.

“Guess what.” Ken grinned.

Grace sighed, his glasses hanging in that odd position on his face as he pinched the bridge of his nose, “What, Ken?”

“Stratt! She asked me for the time! Me!” He said, boasting his accomplishment. The excitement was clear on his face; he wasn't very good at hiding his feelings.

“And did you tell her the time?” Grace asked back, pretending to care.

Ken stopped in his tracks and looked back to Stratt, Grace followed his lead and saw her confused expression, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.

That was a no.

Ken looked at Grace one last time before rushing back to Stratt, looking at his wrist for a watch he didn't even have on. “Oh, yeah, it's like…” Ken paused, finding Grace's gaze again and pointing to his wrist for the time. The teacher rolled his eyes but mouthed the time to him from across the room. “It's 9:43am.” He smiled at her. She nodded and looked back on the astronauts, leaving Ken staring longingly at her.

Ryland was close to breaking. He couldn’t stand it anymore. He didn’t understand why it kept happening in front of him. And this time he was at the end of his rope. Ken had once again inserted himself in a situation that did not require him. Ryland stopped trusting him around the science equipment after he set himself on fire and started screaming in the dead of night. And yet here he was.

Ken was standing next to Ryland, who was next to Stratt as they prepared another experiment. As they were still setting up, Ken looked to Stratt. “I, uh, like what you've done with your hair. Did you move it to the side?”

“No.” Stratt responded.

“Well, it looks nice anyway.” Ken smiled, looking at her. Stratt met his gaze and offered a nod, a small smile on her face at the compliment. They stayed there looking at one another for a few seconds longer.

Ryland looked between them, did they have to do this while he was standing between them? He bit back any retorts, focusing back on the experiment they were running. Surprisingly, it was difficult to focus with Ken’s obvious moves to get Stratt’s attention. Ryland ended up slapping Ken’s hand away like he was scolding a child; which he technically was. No one was looking at them, and if they were, they avoided questioning Ryland’s behaviour towards Ken. There was a mutual understanding between them all when it came to Ken being himself.

Once the experiment finished, other scientists were whisked away to study the reports and notes made. Ryland wished to join them, but he felt too awkward to move as Ken held him for emotional support – Ken had said that a lot, in reality he didn’t know how to speak to women. Especially Stratt.

Which is odd when Ryland remembered months back when Ken sang to her in front of the whole lunchroom.

He shook off that disturbing image. Although maybe he should’ve stayed daydreaming when he heard what Ken said next.

“I like it when you’re dominant. You could dominate me and I'd like it.”

A choked sound was heard as Ryland struggled to catch his breath, unsure what to make of Kens…interesting wording in anything other than complete shock. The confidence in himself as he said it made the whole interaction worse. Stratt didn’t even say anything, a slither of surprise sneaking in her expression before it was gone, along with her as she left to collect the reports.

When Ryland finally caught his breath, he turned to Ken who hadn’t even recognised the inappropriate nature of his words.

“You’re done.” Ryland stated. Ken was about to protest but the teacher put his hand up, “No. You’re done. Never say that again.” He began dragging Ken back to the accommodation he got placed in when he landed on the vat.

Stratt had been amused at Ken, noting his lack of realisation for the context behind his words. Truth be told, she enjoyed his company. Ken was in no way smart, but he had a charm about him that was difficult for even the stoic leader to ignore. She won’t confirm nor deny her standing point on the lively doll, but the rumours speculating set a tone for what their relationship was. In some ways Ken was sweet; bringing her coffee, holding doors open and even bringing food. They’d exchange pleasantries as Ken tried – and failed – to keep the longing look out of his eyes.

And she couldn’t deny that seeing Dr. Grace riled up by their interactions was a small, added bonus. It was nice to have some levity on a heavy weighted job. She knew once the Hail Mary launched, she’d be taken to jail without trial, based on previous experience in court when she had walked out, they would waste no time sending her away the second time round. She’d made peace with it when she signed herself up to do this project, she stepped up to save the world, even if it cost the lives of three to save billions.

It was better than doing nothing.

Before her time was up, she was going to see where this thing went with Ken. One last moment of vulnerability before she lost it all. Before she had to make one final call. One that would be the hardest to forgive herself for if it came to it.

That’s what she told herself before she closed the file of Ryland Grace’s results testing positive for the coma resistant gene.

Ken would describe himself as a gentleman. It helped that he stopped looking towards the patriarchy, which basically only taught him to be misogynistic. And like horses. Ken missed horses. He’d see some soon, he was told the project only had a month left before the launch. Then he’d be free to do what he wanted.

Truthfully, he didn’t want to be anywhere away from Stratt. He never had these feelings before, not even for Barbie. He liked Stratt. He liked her smile, her hair, her authority. He could talk about her for hours. In fact, Ken did talk about her for hours to Carl and Ryland once. They seemed to drink a lot during it, but Ken didn’t mind. He was just happy to talk about how much he loved her–

Oh.

Oh.

Ken loved Eva Stratt.

That was new. New was scary.

His thoughts were interrupted by Carl checking on him as he was late for lunch. Ken immediately followed him, always wanting to bless others with his presence and gossip with Olesya and Annie. They loved him for some unknown reason. Ken quickly followed Carl to grab some lunch, his favourite were the rainbow drops and strawberry pencils. Not the healthiest option, but a: he was a doll, b: they had a great dental plan on the vat.

He sat down next to Ryland, chewing obnoxiously. Olesya leaned forward in her seat, grinning at Ken. “No eating with Stratt today?” She asked, Ken just smiled and shook his head. It wasn’t unusual for him to sit with them, but he tended to stick around Stratt more often than not.

“If I eat before she comes to get food, I can give her lunch. I think she's really starting to like me!” Ken boasted. Annie and Olesya shared a look.

Ryland feared Ken was right.

Ryland remembered telling others such as Yao, Dubois, even Dr. Lokken about what he'd witnessed over the past few months. None of them took him seriously. And yet they all watched Ken scoff down his food before Stratt got there. Once he had finished, he rushed to get a plate and began making a coffee, filling the plate with the food provided whilst waiting for the coffee to brew. Soon enough he had everything ready just as Stratt came in, looking and finding Ken's eyes from across the room. He was standing there with her lunch and coffee in his hands, a massive grin on his face.

“All for you, M’lady.” Ken bowed slightly, Stratt smiled and took the plate, putting it down on the table beside her and grabbing her coffee after, her hand brushing Ken's, they lingered there for a moment before she pulled away, coffee in hand as she sat down. Ken was blushing, hiding a lovesick smile.

Ryland stared, eyes almost bulging out of his skull. How did no one else see this?! He looked around and saw no one batting an eye, not even Olesya who had been making jokes all week about it. Was Ryland going crazy? Was he finally losing it? The teacher swore he saw Stratt giving him a look before focusing on her lunch.

Ryland needed to get to the bottom of this…thing. He turned towards Dimitri who was oblivious to Rylands mental torment. “There’s definitely something going on between them.” Grace said aloud, Dimitri and the others finally turned to him. “Look at them. Stratt is never that polite with anyone. Or…lingering.” He muttered, refusing to take his eyes off them.

“She is with you.” Dubois stated. Rylands head snapped towards the crew, his glasses hanging from his ears, face flushed.

“W-what? No, she’s not! That’s-” He tried laughing it off, but the crew staring at him made him feel awkward and unnerved. Stratt wasn’t polite and as kind with him as she was with Ken. That’d be absurd. Right?

“Grace, you are second in command, no?” Olesya piped up, a knowing smirk on her face. Ryland was even more perturbed. Second in command sounded too serious, too high a status for someone sitting in his ‘AH! The Element of Surprise!’ shirt. He was just a scientist. A scientist trying to understand this spark between Ken and Stratt while everyone called him crazy or teased him relentlessly.

Today was the final straw, Ryland was done.

The day had started out fine, he was with Stratt (and unfortunately Ken) as they had their morning coffee outside. Ken had made Stratt laugh about something trivial, Ryland had been blocking it out for his own sanity. Dubois and Shapiro were in the lab far off from them, performing some final experiments before the launch of the Hail Mary. Just as Ken was about to make another unfunny comment, a rush of wind knocked them all to the ground, the loud booming from an explosion coming after; Rylands ears were ringing as he caught his bearings, picking himself up. Stratt was already running to what used to be the lab, wasting no time. Ryland dragged Ken to his feet and they ran after her.

The damage was already done; Martin and Annie were dead. They had days before the launch and both the expert scientists were gone.

If they missed the launch window it’d set them back months.

They can’t afford that. That’s more time for Earth to descend into chaos, for nations to starve and fight one another.

How much longer could they nuke Antarctica to hold off the inevitable?

Grace blinked back to reality. He was in a conference room. Sat around him at the end of the table was the crew, Stratt and other scientists on the team. Right, they were talking about a replacement scientist, Grace remembered.

“Okay, but who? I mean, that’d…” Grace looked up and saw everyone staring at him. All the blood drained from his face at the realisation, staring silently back at Stratt, gesturing slightly to himself. Stratts confirming nod forced the air out of his lungs.

“I’m…I’m not an astronaut.” Grace stuttered.

“I don’t need an astronaut. I need an expert on astrophage whose mission ready.” Stratt stated.

“I’m not ready. I don’t have enough training!” He reasoned pathetically. No one spoke on his behalf. Stratt wasn’t backing down. Neither was Ryland.

“I’m not an astronaut! I put the ‘naut in astronaut! I haven’t done anything. I can’t even moonwalk! I suck at the pool thing.” Grace tried reasoning further, defending his honour.

“You have the coma resistant gene necessary to survive the trip. Dr. Grace, you are our only reliable member on this project that can perform the tasks necessary to help save humanity simply by being present for all the main experiments and training aboard the vat.” Stratt shot back.

“What?” Grace deflated, the new information being thrown at him leaving him deflated, all arguments leaving him. “I can’t…This isn’t fair.” Grace tried once more to make a compelling argument.

“This isn’t about ‘fair’ Dr. Grace. It’s about what’s best for humanity.”

“Humanity?! What about me? I want to stay with humanity! I can die in thirty years with-”

“With the rest of us?” Stratt finished.

“She’s got a point, bro. I’d do it.” Ken unhelpfully chimed in.

Grace finally let his frustration win, “Well you can’t! You’re a fucking doll!” The tension filling the room was suffocating. No one had heard Grace swear. “You- You’re just here because you were bored! You don’t care about anyone here but yourself and maybe Stratt. And what the hell is going on between you two? I know I’m not crazy, and I know there’s something.” His voice had risen and so had he. Being stared at usually made him uncomfortable, but he had to stand his ground.

“Dr. Grace, sit down, this is ridiculous.” Her voice was stern and final, leaving Grace to reluctantly sit back down. He took a deep breath before speaking again.

“Can I think about it?” His voice was quiet.

“You have four hours.”

Four hours to make the biggest decision of his life.

He thought about his kids…oh, god. His kids didn’t know what happened to him, he’d just sprinted out of a lesson.

Marissa, what would he tell Marissa? Could he even tell her anything that would explain his situation without causing pain?

Tears filled his eyes as he sat there, ignoring everyone around him. Twenty minutes passed before he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Ken. Ryland flinched back, getting up and leaving the conference room, the tears running freely down his face.

Soon only Ken and Stratt remained in the room. The atmosphere between the two was heavy. “About what Ryland said…do we have a thing?” Ken asked, looking at Stratt.

She didn’t turn away from the door, “He won’t have a choice. He’s my only solution. I have to send him.” Stratt spoke, a hint of guilt in her words. Her determination outweighed her guilt, it always would. If she had to sacrifice three to save billions, she’d do it in a heartbeat, no matter the cost.

“I trust you, Eva. And I support your choices. Even though I really like Ryland.” Ken grabbed her hand, holding it with his own, offering a supportive squeeze. “Even though I'm sure he doesn’t like me much.” Ken smiled, Stratt gave him a slightly amused look. “I’m with you.” Ken spoke sincerely.

“When all of this is over, I'll be put in prison for numerous crimes I've committed throughout this project. Likely a life sentence.” Stratt explained to Ken, her hand still remaining in his. It was a comfort to her. Ken was a comfort to her. He made her days brighter in ways she hadn’t realised they could be whilst working on such a project. She’d miss him.

“Then I'll come rescue you on a horse and we’ll ride away into the sun together. One last adventure.” Ken suggested, Eva didn’t think he was joking. She laughed.

Eva stared at Ken for a moment, a soft smile falling on her face as she took him in. He truly was one of a kind. She hoped to see him again, maybe then they could figure out their relationship together. Get the time to be together. Eva was never one for love, especially relationships, but maybe if humanity survives, they can make it work. It was no surprise that Ken adored her, practically worshipping the ground she walked on.

But now Eva had to make a difficult call, and she knew it’d be the hardest one to forgive herself for.

She hoped Ryland forgave her.

She began to walk away, Ken pulling her back by her hand before grabbing her face and pressing his lips against hers. He wouldn’t forget her. He needed to feel her one last time.

When they pulled away from one another, he rested his forehead against hers, “I will come back for you, Eva. I promise.” He spoke with such genuine emotion that she felt her heart ache for the first time. “I love you. Now, good luck.”

Ken watched her walk away.

He’d come back for her.

He’d always come back to her.

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‘Eva Stratt, just wait, my love. I will be there soon.’ Eva read the note in her cell, the small spark of hope being the only thing she had left.

She would see him again.