Thinking about Carl again and dreaming him up some background and putting him under a microscope so I can have big feelings about it all.
In school hes a clever and sensitive kid who loves space and aliens, and because kids can be mean that gets him bullied. He learns to hide parts of himself to avoid the bullying, and that includes his interest in science and his whimsy. He has few friends, and even fewer close friends because he can't share this big part of himself.
He grows up reserved, but into a tall and muscular guy which gets him a career in security and eventually into the secret service. Its mostly boring work guarding who knows what, but then he's assigned to this new project, top secret save the world kind of thing. Obviously he's been following what's been going on with the sun and the Arclight probe because SPACE, and he jumps at the chance to be in on this and gets himself assigned to Stratt directly so he can be right in the middle of it all.
Then they recruit this science guy who had the opportunity to pursue his smarts and then crashed out and has been running away since, and he gets this amazing offer to work with the first extraterrestrial life that Earth encounters and hes STILL running away and that pisses Carl off. But then Grace gets his shit together for 5 minutes and says what he actually wants and stays on the project with encouragement from Carl.
So Carl is warming to his guy since he showed an iota of backbone and hes kinda glad that Stratt left him to babysit Grace. They hang out, Grace talks to him like his opinion matters and asks him questions and considers his answers thoughtfully as an academic equal (which he is, just without the opptunities Grace got).
They have fun at the hardware store, and they joke around and play at work which is a nice contrast to how serious Carl's job usually is. They build a box to simulate what's going on with astrophage and use it to test the 'Carl hypothesis' (!!). Carl is proven right, and on top of that, they are the first people to _breed alien life_ on Earth. Grace announces this to him like they've become parents together and Carl's fondness for him grows more.
Then the project kicks up a gear. He sees less of Grace but they make time to hang out and their friendship deepens. Grace keeps him up to date on all of the scientific breakthroughs they're making, asking Carl his thoughts when Grace is stumped or puzzling something over, and Carl gives Grace all the hot gossip on who else is coming onto the project and what they're doing. Carl would be lying if he said he was looking forward to the next 26 years while Earth waits for the Hail Mary to go and find an answer while society collapses, but hes glad that hes got a good friend by his side to weather it with.
Then disaster strikes. Stratt is grasping for a solution, and Carl can see the answer straight away but he hates it and he doesn't want to look at it because if he doesn't voice it maybe there will be another solution. But there isn't, and Stratt arrives at the same conclusion shortly after Carl. They've both become fond of this brilliant but cowardly scientist who cannot for the life of him wear his glasses properly, and they take a beat to rage at the universe and grieve together. But theres not really time for that, and before either of them are ready they're sat in front of Grace telling him that he is their only option. That they want him to take this one way trip.
Carl sees the exact moment that Grace realises what they're asking him, sees something break behind his eyes, and sees the hurt and betrayal that he feels from people he thought were his friends. Something in Carl breaks at the same time, because he _doesn't want this_, but he needs, and humanity needs, Grace to understand that this is the only option and go on the mission. Grace asks for time to think, and Carl goes back to Stratt, asking desperately if there is any other option even though he knows there isn't. He knows the decision that Grace will make, and he also knows that it isn't actually a choice, Stratt will make him go anyway. He hopes that when faced with that, Grace will ultimately choose to go, but he knows this guy well enough by now to know that hes been running his whole life and he probably ain't gonna stop now.
Hes in the room when Grace chooses to run. He moves to calm him but the military guys make chase first and that panicks Grace. They catch him, of course they do they're in an enclosed compound, and Carl has to watch as his friend struggles and begs for his life pinned on the ground. Its not Carl who has hands on Grace, but he can see that the betrayal and hurt in Grace's eyes isn't for the military people, its all for him.
He wants to scream and breakdown and pull them off of Grace, but he can't. This is the only option. More importantly than that, his friend needs him right now. Grace needs him calm and strong, needs to know that Carl believes in him, needs help finding that tiny bit of backbone that Carl saw in him way back at the beginning of all this.
It takes every bit of strength that Carl has to keep his voice steady but he looks down at Grace, slightly blurry from the tears in his eyes that he will absolutely not let fall yet, and he says what to him is the ultimate trust and to Grace the ultimate betrayal.
"You know who you are. You're gonna do great."
pixelskylines
snowghoul
blakekathryn
yousharknotpass
2087
