Grace having left over vodka and asking the Eridian scientists to make him more, without telling Rocky or Adrian.. the scientists find the ethanol and think that Grace must not know how bad it is and tell Grace but then Grace explains that no, that is the entire point please leave the dangerous chemical in thank you.
So the scientists immediately assume Grace has completely lost it and tell Rocky and Adrian and it goes like this:
Scientist: so.. Grace has requested we make him a kind of human drink..
Adrian: okay? Is there an issue?
Scientist: see- the thing is- it has a chemical that is quite harmful to humans but he insists we leave it in?? Itās called ethanol and-
Rocky: NO NO DO NOT MAKE IT GRACE IS STUPID WHEN HES DRUNK NO PLEASE-
I know meburgers are something of a joke and also kind of gross to think about, but when I read the last chapter of the book and Grace says "I love meburgers. I have one every day," I did cry a little. Because after all the trials and tribulations of Tau Ceti and the trip to Erid, he has something he likes to eat! It's weird and outside human norms and probably would have freaked him out back on Earth but we are well past there being any point in denying practical solutions or simple pleasures. He was worried about starving to death, first alone in a spaceship and then on a planet where the food would kill him faster than the lack of it. And even after the Eridians could reliably make him things that would keep him alive, it was a while before any of it tasted good (even bearing in mind how much his standards for something "tasting good" must have gone down). But now he loves meburgers. He has one every day.
Like he died before he even got to go on the mission, he never even made it to the launch pad, and yet his preferred method of ending the mission is exactly was what allowed Rocky and Grace to finish it..
Maybe there would have been some nitrogen aboard anyway or they could have science-d some up, but having several tanks there and ready for them to breed nitrogen resistant taumeoba all because of DuBois will never not make me want to sob
(not to mention having that quantity aboard allowed Grace to rid the ship of the leak easily without too much stress of resource management, he had the gas to spare and flood the ship with)
Anyway there is so much tragedy in the Hail Mary crew that didnāt make it, but something about them haunting the narrative and being a part of the completed mission in the end never fails to make me feel genuinely sick
Their sacrifices would have meant something anyway, their bravery and willingness to die to save earth can never be forgotten, but the tragedy of them never getting to make the mission feels so wrong, and yet, they were there the whole time, in the extra coma slurry that kept Grace alive, in the nitrogen that created a life form that would save two worlds, Project Hail Mary crew I love you, you did not die for nothing
Grace is having a similar problem to Rocky, Rocky cannot seem to just give Grace his full attention sometimes which is fine mostly but.. well. Grace is a little greedy and a little bored, and one day heās rummaging around in the storage area, opening boxes heās never opened before and he finds..
A dog whistle!!
He almost goes to blow on it experimentally but then he pauses.
This is a brilliant scientific opportunity!!
Grace has about a million thoughts at once but it all boils down to this: Can Eridians be trained to react positively to certain sounds?
He knows itās not exactly the mosttt ethical but. Heās so bored
Grace is immediately plotting, he hides the whistle in his pocket amongst other junk so that Rocky canāt make out what it is but then he realises he canāt just pull it out, itās not like he can hide it anyway so instead he shows it to Rocky vaguely under the excuse itās a human instrument yada yada
Rocky isnāt really interested after five ish minutes, and Grace is ecstatic!! He can begin his experiment!!
Rocky is on his side of the bedroom, working on something while Grace talks to him and Grace mentions something he knows will peak Rockyās interest. The moment Rocky stops what heās doing and faces Grace, Grace blows on the whistle very lightly and says āthanks, bud!ā
Rocky shivers for a moment and Grace is confused, does the sound hurt Rocky?? Before he can ask Rocky says āhow Grace make Eridian sound??ā
Grace fumbles, and blurts out āhuman instrument, remember? Donāt worry about it.ā Rocky somehow makes a gesture that gives Grace āfurrowed eyebrowsā feeling, but Rocky drops it and Grace figuratively breathes a sigh of relief.
And so he continues on with his experiment, after awhile itās not just when Rocky turns his attention to Grace, heāll do it after Rocky does something favourable at ALL (turning his attention to Grace, helping Grace with something, etc)
Grace choosing his method of reward to be praise because well, Rocky is a sucker for it even if he wonāt admit it/take the compliment. And more importantly, whenever Grace praises him heāll usually react in someway (happy trilling, jazz hands) and thatās EXACTLY what he wants!! The response shows whether or not the experiment worked after all.
Rocky is a bit suspicious of Grace, he has a feeling that maybe Grace has caught onto his own evil doings (see post above) but well. Heās not exactly complaining.
After about a week or two of this, Grace decides to finally end this and test it out!! Heās too excited to wait any longer.
Rocky was just sitting idly when Grace blew the whistle, and as Grace expected Rocky bounces for a moment, trilling like Grace just said something particularly nice before pausing and glaring at Grace.
āGrace tricked Rocky!!ā He fumes, and Grace immediately bursts into laughter, dropping the whistle by his side and curling up in his bed from how hard heās laughing.
āI knew- I knew it would work!!ā Grace struggles to say in his fit of laughter
āGrace do this for revenge?? When did Grace figure it out?!ā Rocky demands, stomping his foot in question.
Grace pauses. Sits up in silence and asks,
āWait wait, revenge for what?ā
āā¦ Grace donāt worry about it.ā
āNo no revenge for what??ā
āGRACE STOP ASKING-ā
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