Introverted_kiwibird

It wasn't a heavy emotional moment, it wasn't "significant" in any recognisable way. They were together, talking, and maybe they got good news, maybe last preparations were successfully finished, and the launch is so, so close now.

Grace got excited as he always does and once the messenger left, he just turned to her with a huge smile on his face and saw her smiling back. So he hugged her, hard enough to lift her off the ground a little, and she let out a breathless laugh. Eva's surprised, and it took her a moment to react, but when she did, she hugged him back without hesitation.

Because no one was watching, there was no one she needs to be Stratt for, she could be Eva with him, she could be human. (They hug, she laughs, it makes him laugh, and maybe they both haven't slept in a day, and maybe they're both starved for touch. Maybe he quietly says you're amazing, maybe she takes the compliment without resistance, maybe she closes her eyes and clings to him just a little.)

Eventually, Grace set her down, thinking maybe he should apologize, but she was still smiling, all sparkling eyes and teeth, so he didn't.

lord im two

lord im three

lord im four

lord im five hundred miles

from my home.

Until Grace slips out a sentence along the lines of "could you give me a little grace here" and Rocky immediately points out he used a word wrong so Grace has to explain that yeah, grace means elegance but it can also mean mercy sometimes too.

Eva's character is a perfect foil to Grace in every single way. And as a narrative technique it does really drive home Grace's character and growth. Im gonna start using examples under the cut so Spoilers for that

Grace is dragged up and down, east and west by Stratt and he's like "yeah, another tuesday"

How whenever she's about to do something questionable like kidnapping another scientist (Dr. Lokken) he's like "you'll get use to it."

How the movie pulls this but switched it, when Grace is firstly meets the crew and Yao says "he talks like a kid", and Stratt is like "you'll get use to it." Then followed by her telling him "you are doing great."

How once again when Stratt is about to do something questionable, like nuking the Antarctic and she says something like "I dont care about morality" and he's like "yeah, she doesn't".

And just the way they gravitated towards each other, she only smiles when he's with her, he goes to look for her whenever he feels uncomfortable in a room and after seeing people flirting. How they work together in separate stuff.

Largely speaking, the human brain doesn't make moral decisions from a utilitarian perspective. Eva had to stare Grace in the face and make hundreds of calculations (How many people would this choice benefit? Did it outweigh what would be Grace's anguish? How likely was it that this would succeed? If it didn't succeed would that change the morally of it all? What if it did?) all while blocking out the actual human desire to keep someone she liked safe. Morality as we understand it is largely instinctual and she had to fight the empathetic instincts that drive our desire to be moral.