Chapter Text
Ryland Grace is going back to Earth.
After 20 years of scientific discoveries and friends ship with alien creatures that Grace could've never imagined, one thing finally got to him. The longing for home. The empty, slowly cracking, hole in his chest thats never felt full ever since he was essentially banished to what should've been a guaranteed death. But despite getting forced into a suicide mission, Grace yearned for home. Yearned for Earth.
Sure, Erid is amazing! The Eridians are undoubtedly the best companions Grace could've ever asked for. He's grown to love them as if they we're family, which at this point they probably are. Especially Rocky. He could never shut up about his best friend. Why would he? Rockys amazing, a better friend and brother the anyone he'd ever know on Earth.
So, why? Why dose he want so badly to go back to the small green and blue planet that sent him to his death. It's a great question because, he dosent know. He doesn't have a single clue whats pulling him back to his home planet, but something is. And he can't ignore that something.
It's like a constant pulling at his heart thats only grown over the years. Maybe it's because of Erids increased gravity, maybe it's because hes finally gone insane. He's got no clue, but something is dragging him back to space like two magnets with opposite charges.
But no matter the reason behind this cursed storm of emotion, hes leaving. Today. He's saying goodbye to Erid, goodbye to the paradise built for him, goodbye to Rocky. Possibly forever. The Eridians, those lovely engineers, had rebuilt and improved the Hail Mary just for him. It had everything plus some. A medical bay, better navigation, enough food to last him the entire trip, and that ridiculous almost sentient robot arm to keep him company.
It hurts saying goodbye, it hurts even more that he can't even embrace his found family for one last time. Although, atleast he gets the chance to say goodbye. He never got that option on Earth. What was it Stratt said?
Right, no immediate family, no lover, no dog.
As if that was an excuse to send a random middle school teacher into outerspace to save the stars, literally. Not that he feels bitter, well, to bitter anyways. After so mant years, hes come to the conclusion that he'd most likely do that same had he been in her shoes. Plus, he got to meet the best people ever because of her.
Now, with a ship full of anything he could need and more, Ryland Grace says goodbye to Erid.
He has one last class, one last walk around his simulatedbeachside property, one last science experiment with Rocky. One last moment with paradise. Then he leaves.
He cried, of course he cried. Infront of his students (embarrassingly enough), infront of the fake ocean, infront of his best friend who called him a "leaky space blob".
But, at the end of the day, he leaves. He launches back into space, back into the unknown. Without the looming danger of a potentially world ending catastrophe, but with a heavier heart then he'd like to admit. Part of him wonders if it was a mistake leaving. If he should've stayed, if he's doing the right thing.
His hesitation dosent stop him, why would it? He defeated the Astrophage, saved the stars. He can go home.. home. Hes going home, yet it feels like thats exactly what hes leaving behind.. Not much he can do about it now. He's on the way to Earth, smooth sailing, easy, and incredibly lonely.
Atleast, that was the plan. He got 6 months out before something went wrong. 6 months, that all the time it took for him to somehow break the wonderful navigation system made just for him. Now hes off corse, in the middle of space, surrounded by complete nothingness.
Alarms blare, the robotic arm is shouting useless instructions. Grace makes an emergency land on the nearest planet, or planet like thing he can find. In this case, it ends up being a moon. Actually not a moon per say. It was hard to explain. It was around the same size of a moon, the computer told him it was a mood, but its covered in a layer of something… Water, red 40, kool-aid, he dosent know. It's a dark, crimson red with small zones of black rock. He landed on the best surface he could, ignoring the increasing ominous feeling in his chest.
Something here is… Wrong. Very wrong. He just doesn't know what yet. And he definitely dosent want to stay to figure it out… but maybe he can atleast figure out what kind of liquid is surrounding him while his navigation system reset.
He rummages through the outrages amount of random science supplies Rocky packed him, because of course Rocky would pack him enough science supplies to fill a lab. Until, eventually, he finds a pipette, a few slides, and his beloved microscope (Hes a microbiologist, why wouldn't he have a favorite microscope).
Next, he squeezes his protective gear on, just incase the air on this planet is toxic. Upon making sure his suit is sealed tightly he steps out onto the black rock. It almost looks like a lava rock, just a bit dark and stained with the same crimson liquid surrounding this ocean like planet. He kneels down, stretching his arm out to grab a few samples of the disturbingly thick liquid.
He looks down, a mistake truly. His reflection looks back at him through the almost water. Its terrifying and captivating, as if seeing himself through a blood stained screen. Its even more terrifying when he swears he sees something behind him.
He whips around instantly, scanning his surroundings only to find nothing. Nothing but the Hail Mary and the sound of waves hitting rock. This place is making him paranoid. The navigation system really needs to reset faster.
For now, he'll distract himself with his new discovery. He saunters back to the ship, methodically setting up his microscope like hes done hundreds of times before. Then he squeezes just a drop of the red liquid down onto the slide and carefully places the small square of film over it. Then he looks at the slide under the microscope.
What he finds is unmistakable. Something hes seen hundreds of times before. Red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets. The little red discs with the slightly larger white counter parts rush around the plate, vibrating as if they themselves were alive.
It's blood.
That crimson red liquid, covering an entire planet, is blood.
Dr. Ryland Grace can handle a lot of things. Blood and gore is not one of them. And now hes on a random planet covered in the stuff. He backs away from the microscope, making up his mind in that moment. Navigation system be dammed, he'd rather fly blind then stay another moment on a ocean of blood.
Then an another alarm blare, not like the navigation alarm. It's the radio, it's picking up something. A radio frequency, a nearby radio frequency.
Theres no chance, right? Theres just no way that someone else is on this planet.
But then the alarm goes off again in a pattern Grace recognizes. 3 fast beeps, 3 slow beeps, 3 fast beeps.
…/_ _ _/…
S. O. S
It's unmistakable. A distress sequence. A human distress symbol. Theres another person, another human, somewhere close on this planet.
Grace hasn't run that fast in years. Because if someone his here, if another human is alive and in danger, he needs to find them. He grabs a knife, a saw, and a first aid kit. Then runs. He dosent even put his suit on, he just runs. Outside, right next to an ocean of blood.
Adrenaline really is one hell of a drug because he didn't stop running, not until he spotted something. A decently sized ship, submarine thing. It was washed up at the side of one of the rocks, one of its sides broken in and destroyed.
Ryland runs into the unknown box. He has to save this person. Has to save then from whatever metal tomb as encased them from this graveyard of an ocean.
Inside is a person covered head to toe in the horrific liquid. He looks at Grace, whispers something, then promptly passes out. Grace rushes in, dragging the man out of this terrible excuse of a ship. He pushes to fingers to the side of what he hopes is the mans neck. It's difficult to differentiate anything as hes smothered in the viscous substance. But he find a pulse. Slow, faint, but there. Their alive. Ryland Grace as found another human, alive.