Chapter Text
After some time passed on Erid, Rocky started to notice a growing change in his best friend. Grace spent more and more time in contemplative silence, becoming much quieter than he had been during their first year of knowing each other.
They sat together on the beach of the biodome, watching the waves lap at the sand.
“Grace?”
“Yeah Rock?”
“Are you okay?”
Grace smiled, his gaze down, “Of course, bud. I’m alive. I’ve got you, Adrian, the pebbles. Enough Meburgers to last three lifetimes. What more could a man want?”
Rocky could feel the lie in the words, the missing truth. He didn’t comment on it.
Rocky had deduced what was missing. Humans were social creatures, and his human was no different. Grace didn’t hold back how much he appreciated Rocky and the other Eridians, but that didn’t detract from the fact that they simply couldn’t give everything a human needed. Direct, physical contact for one. Rocky thought of Adrian. His beautiful, amazing mate. He tried to imagine a world without them; he didn’t like the thought exercise. Even if he had Grace and the rest of his race at his side, no one could replace Adrian.
That was it then. Grace needed a mate. He was sad and lonely. Rocky wasn’t quite sure how yet, but he resolved to himself that this is something he would fix.
…
Later, in their den, Rocky said, “Grace is very lonely,”
Adrian encircled Rocky in a few of their arms, “But he has you. He has the hearts of all of Erid,”
Rocky sighed. “Yes. But it's not the same. He isn’t as lucky as me; he doesn’t have a mate. He doesn’t even have a human companion.”
Sympathetic, Adrian comforted, “I cannot imagine a life without you. But you have done everything you can for your friend, love.”
“Have I?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if… what if we could bring another human here, for Grace?”
Adrian didn’t respond, just positioned their body into an incredulous response.
Rocky continued, “Think about it! We watched Star Trek with him; what if we could bring a human here?”
“That is human fantasy. We cannot just teleport a human here,”
“What if we could? I have some ideas. I just need some help with a few problems I’m running into. Could you arrange a Thrum for me? Please? If I could just get some input from others…”
“It is a human idea. Why not ask Grace about your theories?”
“I couldn’t bear it if I got his hopes up only to find out this is truly impossible. No. I don’t want him involved; not until we know for sure,”
Adrian hummed in assent. “Yes, beloved. I will call together a Thrum. It shouldn’t be too hard. Our people are eager for new ways to repay our Savior,”
…
The Thrum was wildly successful. More so than Rocky could have dreamed. It didn’t hurt that many participants had already consumed much of the human knowledge Grace brought with him. They ironed out the science, but confirmed much testing would be required. Everything right now was little more than a careful weaving of many stacked hypotheses.
Another, separate issue was raised that Rocky hadn’t even previously considered.
“How will we select and find a suitable human candidate?” Iris asked.
“It would be unfortunate to summon an already mated human,” Crystal agreed.
“Yes, it would be awful if we summoned one who had no interest in Savior Grace,” Iris added.
Rocky considered the criteria. He would have to program a way to filter specifically for unattached, compatible humans only.
…
Ryland noticed that his best friend had been increasingly more busy and preoccupied over the following months. He knew Rocky was a big deal - Savior of Erid, as well as one of the most skilled engineers, and, of course, Adrian couldn’t get enough of their mate now that they finally had him back. The guy was highly sought after. Ryland understood.
But it didn’t make the gnawing loneliness go away.
Rocky would sometimes interrupt their conversations, clearly not listening, to ask strange or abstract questions.
What does loneliness feel like?
What do humans seek in a mate? Scent? Size?
Grace had asked him multiple times if everything was okay, what was going on, but the alien was uncharacteristically tight lipped. (Tight carapace’d?)
One conversation, Rocky asked, “How do humans decide if they are compatible?”
Ryland shrugged, “It’s a little different for everyone. Some people don’t want a partner at all. Some have a gender preference, some don’t. Sometimes it’s about how much time you spend with someone. Or I guess, how desperate you are,”
“Desperate?”
“Yeah. Like, if you really want to be with someone, desperately, you’ll do anything to make it work. Some people are just desperate to be with anyone; they just don’t want to be single. I don’t think it’s healthy, and there’s a lot of discourse about -”
“Were there many humans desperate to be with you, Grace?” Rocky interrupted.
Ryland laughed, “No, nope. Ha. I wasn’t exactly super desirable. I guess you could say someone would have to be pretty desperate in general to want me that way. At least after they really got to know me,”
Rocky didn’t respond, just filed this information away for later. He failed to clarify with Grace whether humans could be desperate about more than just interpersonal relationships.
The day finally came. Rocky gave the Eridian equivalent for a nod to the other Eridians in the room.
The transporter sat in the middle, a large circular tube with a large enough diameter to fit two humans laying down.
Testing had gone better than anyone could’ve hoped for. Inanimate objects were summoned through it. Then plants. Even potted plants, like the ones Grace had begun to grow, easily came through unscathed. Then small creatures. There were plenty of little creatures on Erid. They began with deceased creatures; then creatures alive but carefully medicated into sleep; finally, after a fully conscious creature came through with no side effects, Rocky demanded that he himself be tested.
Adrian had been completely against it. But, after much consoling and promising, Rocky was summoned from a large distance away through the transporter, whole in both body and mind.
They had done it.
All that was left was to summon the human companion.
They were careful to seal the room and provide the correct atmosphere for human life. Lights were added to the room. Human food and drinkable water sat at the ready. They stayed outside, but multiple Eridians wore xenonite suits fitted with translators. Rocky was one of them, the resident expert on humanity. They were hoping to make this as seamless as possible for what would be the second human ever on Erid.
Rocky programmed the machine, seeking human frequencies. The goal was to bring a human that at least matched Grace’s loneliness and desperation. Or, even better, to exceed his desperation.
“Ready?” Rocky asked the room.
“Confirmed,” The chorus of the others responded.
Rocky activated the transporter.
…
The human arrived on Erid in a waterfall of blood.
The Eridian scientists hesitated a moment, taking in the horror before them; a human figure, drenched in human blood, missing a limb. He had other significant differences from the human they knew but the crowd had other, larger concerns to focus on at present. He laid unconscious in a thick puddle of gore.
A cacophony of screaming and shouting erupted.
“Is it inside-out?! The human’s insides are outside!”
“Oh Stars, we ripped their arm off in transport!”
“We should have done more testing before this, what have we done?”
“It needs medical attention, immediately! It’s still breathing!”
Rocky jumped into action. “Topaz, began cleaning and medical protocols for this human. We must locate and stop all bleeding. Use the medical arm we built - It’s in the other wing, it can be brought here easily. Get others to help you,” Then, after a brief hesitation, “Iris, please go and bring Grace here. We need all the help we can get,”
They rushed to follow orders. Thankfully, the broken human seemed to be unconscious.
Rocky paused for a moment. Guilt weighed him down. It froze him. How could everything have gone so wrong? He turned his focus to Adrian. They positioned themselves in support, offering encouragement. Rocky steeled himself and entered the bloody room to help.
…
Ryland was eating lunch in his kitchen when movement outside his window caught his attention.
An Eridian was scuttling as quickly as it could up to his home. Its rocky carapace was all black, a rainbow of colors sometimes flashing as different angles of light bounced off its surface. He didn’t recognize this one.
As it got closer, Ryland realized it was screeching something. It was rare that Eridians other than Rocky or Adrian visited - and the distress made Ryland’s heart seize. His mind went immediately to the wellbeing of his friend.
He dropped his food and ran out to meet the creature.
It spoke far too quickly, he couldn’t understand, “Slow down, slow down, what happened?”
With great physical effort, the Eridian slowed its words just enough for him to understand, “Savior Grace, hurry, hurry! Follow! The new human is here and very hurt, we need help!"
“What!?”
The Eridian didn’t wait. It turned right back around, not waiting to ensure Ryland was following.
Confused, Ryland ran after them. A human?
“Where the fudge did a human come from!?” They didn’t stop to respond.