hail mary? I hardly know her

“John Madden John Madden John Madden”

“999 999 999 999 999”

WORDS ADDED!

“aeiou”

The sound she makes kills me for some reason

she'll do anything she can to protect the world without hesitation, not doing so would be unthinkable, so she crosses boundaries and breaks her morals and contorts her soul and hurts some people to save a greater number of people. hurting people is difficult, but just letting the world freeze over when she has a chance to fix it is simply not an option, so she stores the guilt somewhere for safekeeping out-of-sight where she doesn't have to address it until she's done. if she felt all she was doing she'd crumple up and freeze forever, which would mean she would get less efficacious, and that's also not an option.

she's not a saint made of cold marble, she's not immune to the occasional mini power trip and she sometimes acts with the assurance that she already knows best without, yknow, actually checking if she really knows best first, but she gets no joy in cruelty for cruelty's sake. she gets carte blanche permission to commit any crime she wants for who knows how many years in a row and it never occurs to her to abuse that power for her own pleasure because for her that just wouldn't be pleasant. she'll bomb the antarctic without flinching then console her accomplice as he buckles under the remorse she is categorically not allowed to feel. she'll kidnap and conscript people into labor then make sure they never want for anything while they live in her domain. she'll see the prison sentence barreling ever towards her and never say a word about it. she'll give her friend the barest chance to say "yes" so that maybe he won't ever have to know that "no" isn't an option. it's her spark of hope, the mad idea that he'll be the first person to spare her a hard choice.

when she has to hurt him, it's the only thinkable choice available. she loves humanity too much to even consider lowering its chances, it would be the worst most selfish cruelty to not send him just because she doesn't want to, so she makes the arrangements and gives the orders and files the new guilt in that same ignorable dark corner. but when he goes down kicking and screaming and threatening and begging, when it's playing out right in front of her eyes, that she can't tuck away in time. it makes contact with her stupid heart and the sudden pang behind her ribs for the first time in years has her wishing with a kind of resentment that she could just make him agree. but she can't, obviously. she is neither ignorant nor stupid, she knows human nature, so she has to be right over being kind. towards him or towards herself.

Rocky and Grace jokingly comparing the pros and cons of bipedal vs pentapedal joint pain. Rocky wearing the xenonite exo-suit because it actually helps keep his carapace from collapsing to the ground. Grace affectionately bumping his cane against it in morse code because of course their stupid ernglish pidgin isn't enough; now that everyone know english they also need a secret language that's just for them.

Grace in his motorized bubble scooter touring the city. Naturally, Rocky's going to keep him company by riding in the stupid sidecar, how would he explain everything if he was walking beside him? And of course Rocky's telling people to repeat things and his voice is weirdly pitchy, Grace is there and human hearing is awful. It would be rude to talk normally.

Rocky pulling out the old hamster ball and curling up inside. And he knows, he knows its bad posture, but right now it hurts less. Grace curled up around him, the exterior of the ball a carefully calibrated 39 C. They are both hiding from well meaning physical therapists. Whispering doesn't actually do anything in that regard, but Rocky finds whispering hilarious for some reason (Eridian equiv of helium infused squeaky voice).

Gravity as Erid's love for them, a painful embrace they wouldn't trade for anything.

Give that woman someone to take care of her. Let her have an autistic meltdown. Be touch-starved and desperate for human contact and reassurance she won't allow herself. Give me Eva Stratt completely oblivious to everyone on the vat loving her so much. Have her deal with being constantly dehumanized by both herself and the rest of the world. Give me some huge misunderstanding between her and Grace where to her he's her best friend and he doesn't even realize she likes him. Give me the "what will you do when this is over" or the "you're a coward, Dr Grace!" scene in a different context with Eva rightfully upset that she sacrificed her life and humanity for this project and her second in command can't even acknowledge that that's what's happening. Give me Eva Stratt reaching out and not being seen.

I mean full-on khaki-shorts-wearing, traversing-wilderness-with-nothin'-but-a-machete Adrian who yoinks snakes outta trees and pets swamp puppies and will unflinchingly dig around in elephant faeces for signs of a rare parasitic tapeworm if needed.

Oh, humans eat socially? No problem, Adrian has observed many many animals eat. Did you know that an obscure species of small underground dirt creature from the north side of Erid also eats socially? Adrian can give you a not-so-short presentation on them.

Oh, the human has no external carapace and so its internal sounds are absurdly loud, wet and off-putting? No problem, Adrian was just conducting an expedition last month researching the incredible eridian animal, the Wet Loud Worm from the south-east region of Wet Loud Wormland. They're desensitised, it's fine.

Oh, Grace leaks often from many orifices and it can be a bit of a learning curve to get used to? No problem for Adrian, see Wet Loud Worm paragraph again!