honk honk

[part 1] [part 2]

Knock knock who’s there it’s Rocky!

He's literally doing this:

So like she gets the recordings and realizes Yao and Ilyukina are dead before he wakes up so he’s got no pilot, no engineer, and no memories.

And then you also have to remember that the EXISTENCE of these recordings and the fact they were accompanied by the Taumoeba means that an amnesticized Grace somehow managed to save earth without a pilot or engineer and shoddy memory that only vaguely gives him enough to work with as he works.

There is a universe where they could have become true friends. It's also not a possible universe, even if Grace never ended up on the Hail Mary. This (metaphorical) universe is one where Stratt is not imprisoned, and Grace also does not face consequences for his not-quite role as second. Maybe then, away from responsibilities, they can grow close. But Stratt (not Grace) understands that this impossible, thus there remains a Distance between them.

They hover in this space for the whole story. Closer than anyone else but just a bit further than friends. So they care for each other but they never truly Understand each other.

The betrayal goes both ways. Stratt cannot understand why Grace can be so selfish after she destroyed herself to save the world. Grace cannot understand how Stratt can be so callous and cruel when he expresses his autonomy as a human. Neither is wrong and neither is right.

The last time they speak to each other, is the first time they come close to knowing each other fully. And in that moment they let each other down.