I have a headcanon that the Skittles and Twizzlers on board The Hail Mary were put there per Carl's request.
Just the mental image of Carl watching Grace get transported after being sedated. A man, who prior to that moment, his most vivid memory consists of them finding world changing discoveries with plywood, duck tape, and copious amounts of sour skittles. A man who he associates with the exhilarating feeling of wonder and life. A teacher teaching, a scientist finding, a man living.
But suddenly, that's not his most vivid memory. Suddenly, what first comes to mind when he thinks of Dr. Ryland Grace is the image of him running away, of chasing him through the compound, of the look on his face when they do inevitably catch up to him. He can't hear the excited laughter of the previous memories without them eliciting the desperate pleas for life.
I wonder if he ever gets to see the videos. How would he feel if he knew that his name was the first one that Grace remembers. Foggy like the thing he misses most about earth.
Genuinely, can't stop thinking about how his name is Carl, like the fog that covers San Francisco is named Karl, and Grace misses the fog. I'm gonna be ill.
