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[IMAGE 1 ID: Page 1 of a 4-page Project Hail Mary comic. The entire comic features lyrics from the song “I Won’t Quit on You” by Hayley Williams. This page has 3 panels. Panel 1 shows Grace in his red EVA suit, floating in space. There’s a safety tether attached to him. Panel 2 shows Grace with his face in his hands, after he finds out that he’s being sent into space. Panel 3 is a view of the beach on Erid. The lyrics “lonely astronaut / it’s gonna cost / but you just can’t beat that view” are scattered all over the page. The page is mostly grayscale except for the bright red of Grace’s suit. The safety tether from Panel 1 extends into a long red thread that goes down to the bottom of the page, connecting to Page 2. END ID]

[IMAGE 2 ID: Page 2 of the comic. It has 3 panels. Panel 1 is Grace before he wakes up from his coma, the zipper of his bodysuit partially open to show half his face. Panel 2 is Grace’s hand on the ship’s window, showing outer space. Panel 3 is Rocky’s claws holding onto the small xenonite Grace figure. The lyrics are “wasted like a god / power off / wake up somewhere new / now I’m an alien to you.” The page is mostly grayscale except for the bright red of Grace’s overall in Panel 2. The red thread from Page 1 continues in this page, and connects to Page 3. END ID]

[IMAGE 3 ID: Page 3 of the comic. It has 3 panels. Panel 1 shows the Hail Mary in Adrian’s atmosphere. Panel 2 is Grace’s face smashed against the screen on the control panel, bleeding from the impact. Panel 3 is Rocky emitting black smoke, from when he’s trying to save Grace. The black smoke goes beyond the panel, giving a suffocating feeling. The lyrics are “come hell or heaven / angels or devils / I won’t move.” The page is mostly grayscale except for the bright red of Grace’s blood and suit in Panel 2, and the red background of Panel 3. The red thread from Page 2 continues in this page and loops twice, and connects to Page 4. END ID]

“Are there other Graces? Why do you need to specify?”

Rocky considers this, tapping his xenonite-encased claws idly against the floor. 

“No other Grace,” Rocky says. “We just do this.”

“Like an honorific,” Grace guesses. “It goes before everyone’s name? Everyone you know?”

Rocky whirs in surprise. “No, no, no. Not at all.”

“Okay, then who? What makes me qualify?”

Rocky is silent for a moment.

“...Does this offend Grace?” he asks, voice lower. 

Grace blinks. “No! I don’t think so. Is there a reason to be offended?”

“Good,” Rocky says, relieved. Grace is starting to recognize what Eridian relief sounds like. “No, no reason.”

“Who else do you call that?”

“You don’t have this on Earth?”

Grace considers. What for, friends? He couldn’t call Marissa “my Marissa.” That would be weird.

“I still don’t know what it means,” he settles on. “So I couldn’t tell you.”

Rocky groans in frustration. He’s a very impatient tutor. “We just say it.”

“Are you my Rocky?” Grace asks. He hits the two keys to make the my note. 

“I don’t know!” Rocky says. “You decide this.” 

“I decide? Who do you use it for?” 

“You. Adrian. I will use it for my pebbles.” 

Grace blinks. “So few?”

Rocky shifts. “I am… you do not have the word yet. Eridian who works alone often, not close to many other Eridians.”

“What, mechanical engineer?”

Rocky chitters. “Acceptable.”

“Is Adrian your only friend?” 

Rocky draws back, like he’s taken offense. “I have friends. Coworkers. But different.”

So just Adrian. And him. 

“This worries you,” Rocky says.

“Adrian is your mate,” Grace points out. “I’m not your mate.”

“Correct. You are not. You do not like to be a mate.”

Grace isn’t sure how to respond to that, so he ignores it.

“I’m your friend,” Grace says. 

Rocky hesitates, for a second. “...Correct.”

“Like your coworkers.”

“No.”

Grace sighs, rubbing his hand across his face. Okay, maybe that’s fair. It’s not like he felt about any of his coworkers like he feels about Rocky.

“Best friend,” Grace amends. “You’re my best friend, too.”

Rocky hums. “Acceptable.”

“Just acceptable? Now you are offending me. Can you just explain?”

This makes Rocky fall silent for a minute longer than usual. Grace is half-ready to apologize and to say let’s move on and to retype his own name without the superfluous my. 

“The Earth ‘best friend’ is not strong enough,” Rocky says finally. “It does not translate this way.”

Grace runs his fingers through his hair, a little nervous, for some reason. “Okay.”

“It is…” Rocky pauses. He has to pause more often, now that they’re not using the translator, to simplify his language. “It means that I am not Rocky without my Grace. You are part of… of the whole. When I wake up, I think of you. When I work. When I eat. When I think I am going to die.”

Rocky speaks slowly, but it’s still a lot of Eridian for Grace to grasp all at once. Even as he works out the sentences in his head, he can feel hot tears rising in his eyes.

“It means that when you are sick, I am sick,” Rocky continues. “And it means I will take care of you, because taking care of you is taking care of myself.”

Grace bunches up his sleeve, wiping it across his face, blinking furiously.

Rocky’s voice is soft. “So Grace is part of Rocky. Grace is like a cell. You see? My Grace.” 

Grace is quiet, for a moment, trying to get himself together. When he speaks, his voice is shaky.

“...Oh.”

Rocky hums, pressing his carapace gently against Grace’s arm. “You are leaking. Does this make you sad?”

Grace shakes his head, sniffing, crossing his arms across his knees and resting his chin on his sleeves. “Not at all.”

“Good, good.”

“I feel like that,” Grace mumbles. “Just like that. Just exactly—exactly like that.”

“About your old mate?”

“Don’t act stupid. You know I’m talking about you.”

Rocky hums, burrowing closer. Grace curls one arm around his carapace. That’s not enough, so he leans over, dropping his head down so his forehead presses against the xenonite. 

“My Rocky,” Grace whispers in English. 

“My Grace,” Rocky echoes in Eridian. Grace can recognize the note at the start. He will add it when he plays Rocky’s name. 

“How long have you called me that?” Grace asks. “Must’ve been a while. I didn’t notice it change.”