Chapter Text
Simon POV
"Motherfucker-!"
I yank my arm from the metallic rod, shaking the limb like that will magically make the pain disappear.
It works, a little.
When I open my right hand to look at it, the palm is noticeably red but otherwise undamaged. Though I'm sure it wouldn't have stayed that way if I'd held on any longer. I watch the skin for a second, glancing between it and the red hot(literally) metal rod, before turning away from the lab table.
"Looks like 900 degrees Fahrenheit, 482 degrees Celsius, is too much guys." I state, looking between Crim, Tangerine, and Beige. The three little scientists start talking in an excited but low chorus of clicks and chirps, tapping and scribbling away on their textured devices. I instantly recognize my name and a few select words but still need to flick my gaze to the laptop on my left to understand the rest of their conversation.
🎶"Simon very interesting human! Not like Savior Grace. Savior Grace Thermal Contact Threshold 120 to 145 Fahrenheit or 43 to 57 Celsius. Simon able to interact with conductive materials for long periods up to 420 Celsius! Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!"🎶 The screen reads, their rambling quickly growing too convoluted for the translator to pickup.
My brow raises in interest as I turn my head back to watch them sing between each other, rolling my eyes and eventually turning back to the heated piece of equipment. I turn the conductor off and push the rod on its little stand back away from the edge of the table.
My eyes slide over to my journal sitting off to the side, a heavy exhale escaping me.
Its not really a journal, more like a daily log; keeping a diary really isn't my thing.
My personal science team insists its a must though. The stuff they get into is super out of my league so I usually just follow their lead.
It's gotten easier thankfully, 'following their lead' as well as every other interaction. It didn't take long for my brain to disconnect the Eridians from the blood eel once I started cooperating with them directly, especially considering they follow me around a lot.
I hate to admit it, because its the kind of shit that'd screw you over back in post-Rapture humanity, but I've grown attached. They're all kind and very interested in my well-being, something I'm still trying to adjust to. Those little pleasantries just....weren't a thing for me before...or for anyone in Eden and the COI for that matter.
I flinch slightly when a loud and excited screeching sounds from behind me, glancing over my shoulder to see the three rocks bouncing and spinning and shaking their little hands as they continue their 'Nerd Talk'(a term they got from Dr. Grace I'm told). I feel a small swell in my chest, not pain or fear...amusement.
It feels foreign.
I shake it off and turn back to the journal, sitting down on the lab stool. The journal is Eridian made, the pages designed to leave indents wherever the special pen traces so the Eridians can see it; It's essentially a more polished version of what I'd done with the notepad. I flip through the pages and review what I've already written for the previous experiments.
On day 1 we did a bunch of intensive 'human tests' but with Eridian tech since we aren't on Earth. DNA, MRI, EKG, physical exams, the works. The news that I was now partially 'Eel' was not particularly appreciated, though we only call it 'Eel' because it seemed like the best term for the mutated DNA that definitely hadn't been there before the whole blood ocean fiasco.
On the other hand, I have in fact grown in size.
If I used to be around 5'10/177cm, I'm now 6'7/200cm. I'm not overly skinny or slender, I haven't lost any muscle mass as a side-effect so I basically increased in overall size.
Adrian is 6'9/205cm and we now have a running joke that not even 'Human liquid moon monster' mutations are enough to put me on their 'level'. I think it was their attempt at a human joke; I'm not complaining, its nice to see their spirits lifting a bit.
Day 1 was also when we discovered and documented the rest of my physical alterations. The teeth in my face are gone, replaced by a smooth but jagged scar.
I say 'gone' but they honestly just...moved.
They shrunk so they could fit in my mouth but they're still decently sharp. My two front and center(top and bottom) teeth are normal, then there are 3 of the mutated ones one each side on both top and bottom, before returning to my normal molars in the back.
Essentially, I look like I have 12 canines instead of the normal 4, and they can, in fact, lengthen on their own(I've bitten through my lip several times now).
I rub a hand over my face, starting to feel the call for sleep despite it barely being noon.
Things have been.....eventful.
I can now see in the dark, curtesy(mostly) of my left eye. The iris is red now and the pupil is a slim vertical slit. My left eye does most of the 'seeing' when there's no light but, likely because of the mutations, my brain is able to equalize the intensely different inputs and provide a lesser 'night-vision' effect across both fields of vision when needed.
The last of the changes we've found(so far), aside from new muscle density, is an extra organ.
I have a new, rounded.....organ, because we can't tell what it is yet, in my lower abdomen near my navel. We know its an organ of some sort because its got similar basic chemical and genetic structure, nerves, tissue, and pieces that connect to other organs for some, yet to be discovered, purposes.
The science team and doctors are keeping an eye on it but as of now, I seem to be healthy and healing.
I flip through the next couple of pages in the journal. Most of day 2, 3, and 4 include us discovering how much I differ from normal human capabilities, developing experiments, and resting between said experiments. I flip to a new page and grab the pen, scribbling in the stuff we just did for day 5.
Once I'm finished, I slide the journal to the back of the table and stand. When I turn around, Rocky and Adrian are waiting just outside the lab's doorway. I tilt my head in acknowledgement, grab the laptop, and give the science team a small wave goodbye. Once I've joined the pair in the hall, we start walking to the right in the direction of my room.
🎶"How is Simon tests going? Question?"🎶 Adrian taps lowly from my right.
Rocky is silent as he follows on the other side of Adrian, his body language no less stressed than the last time he stopped by. He started visiting after the first day of experiments, though not nearly as frequently as Adrian.
Dr. Grace's absence is still weighing on him but he seems to be doing better. He's actively contributing to the search and rescue operations now instead of locking himself away in his workshop.
"They're going well." I respond, glancing between the laptop and the teal Eridian. "We found out that I start taking heat damage from surfaces at around 455 Celsius, rapid burns start closer to 475."
Adrian gives a soft whirr of excitement in response, sounding a little impressed.
I've found out that their job is something between an ecologist and microbiologist like Dr. Grace; their main study is seeing how organisms respond to different environmental compositions and habitats.
Again, that's all out of my league, but it sounds interesting enough.
🎶" 🎶 began interrogations."🎶 Rocky suddenly interrupts, our party of 3 stilling in the hall.
'Right, That.'
2 days ago, they managed to detain the Eridian that had helped the 'Strattegists'(Rocky's suggestion, clearly has a hidden meaning) kidnap Dr. Grace. Or, more accurately, One of them; there's new evidence suggesting they had a partner.
"Did they get any new information?" I ask, my eyebrows furrowing.
🎶"....Not...directly."🎶
My eyebrow quirks in confusion. "What's that mean?"
🎶"....🎶 say strange things. Behave strangely. Behave 'crazy'. They give information unintentionally."🎶 Rocky explains.
🎶"Health Eridians say there is signs of mental illness....Thrum illness." 🎶
I frown at the information, tilting my head in thought as I rummage through everything we've learned the last several days.
I can't help but compare this 'Thrum illness' to some kind of psychosis or hysteria, nor can I bring myself to deny my experiences with both of them.
There were a lot of people in Eden that struggled mentally; it usually resulted in an unhealthy obsession with The Last Tree, as if it could save them and grant them rebirth in a....perfect world.
"What was the unintentional information?" I question, pulling myself from my thoughts before my mind spirals. Rocky tilts his body slightly, clicking softly in thought as Adrian and I both wait patiently.
🎶"...Say 'no hear Grace', 'cant find', 'too far in'."🎶
Adrian and I twitch in surprise. Rocky continues.
🎶"Team of Eridians narrow down search. Look for places outside of hearing range, places with space for human atmosphere technology, and places with an 'inside'." 🎶
...
"Have they found anything?" I ask, growing impatient.
🎶"No."🎶 He says in a low, whine-like tone.
🎶"But is still progress. Good Good." 🎶
A tense silence wraps around us for a moment, not necessarily awkward...something more solemn. I glance over to see we've stopped in front of the door to my room, my eyes scanning the bed and lunch table I've grown accustomed to.
🎶"Simon." 🎶
I flinch, turning back to Rocky. "What?"
...
🎶"Front head protection is finished." 🎶
I feel my heart skip a beat, quickly forcing the involuntary swell of excitement back down.
🎶"Simon want to try it now? Question?"🎶 He asks.
"Of course I fucking want to try it now. where is it?" I ask, watching the little brown rock fidget with growing excitement. He might be depressed, but he's still an engineer at heart.
🎶"Left in workshop, will retrieve! Simon eat while Rocky fetch."🎶 He says, lifting his carapace a little higher and starting back down the hall.
"I know how to take care of myself." I grumble with a roll of my eyes.
I turn and march into my room, Adrian following with a soft scuttle of their 5 legs. I set the laptop open on the bed and walk over to the cooling unit the Eridians use to store my food, grabbing the 'gravy tubes' I've grown to favor and returning to the bed. Adrian takes their place on the floor and, despite very adamantly saying they dislike how I eat, waits for me to finish my meal.
🎶"Taste is good? Question?"🎶 They chirp once I set the tube down.
"Oh, yeah. Much better than what I'm used to." I respond.
Interestingly, my diet still consists of human food, for the most part. My biology, as a whole, has made it obvious I'm no longer as 'squishy', so I can eat and process a few new things.
Anything organic from Earth is in the safe zone, at least everything they've managed to synthesize here, some diluted forms of Eridian animal meat work too, and(most disgustingly), anything similar in genetic and chemical makeup to blood.
I'm not touching that particular area with any fucking pole.
Adrian and I sit in a soft silence, me tapping away on the laptop while the teal Eridian watches. Rocky finally returns after maybe 30 minutes and we get to work on setting up his new device.
🎶"This part here is filtration. Special chemical inside to dilute smell for Simon scent organs. Prevent damage and sensory overload."🎶 The brown alien explains, keeping the science lingo simple so I can follow. He hops up onto the bed and allows me to fit the mask over my face before he begins adjusting certain mechanical pieces as well as the Xenonite straps and clips around my head.
The mask is made of xenonite and select other alloys for the smooth frontal plating, straps, and clips. It covers the whole face, from forehead to chin, with the rim touching my skin made of some kind of Eridian rubber to craft a simplistic seal. The outer plating appears to be a matte black color while the inside remains see-through like a one way mirror. A small red glow lines the part where the frontal plating meets the rubber seal.
🎶"Fit correct? Question?"🎶 Rocky asks once he's finished his adjustments.
"Yeah."
🎶"Ready to test? Question?" 🎶
I sigh.
"Ready as I'll ever be."
With that, we rise from the bed and all 3 of us exit the room. We take a right and venture down to the end of the hall. We step into an airlock and let the filtration systems do their thing before I turn my head towards Adrian, watching them shuffle over to the emergency latch.
🎶"Rocky monitor protection data with scanner. Will be able to examine performance."🎶 Rocky says.
Then, after a nod of my head, he presses the airlock's release.
...
I don't realize I'm holding my breath until I let out a heavy sigh of relief, glancing down to observe my unblemished limbs.
The ammonia hits my nose half a second later and I can't restrain my gag. It's bad, but the filter's chemicals are doing its job; I should get used to it eventually. Finally, I turn to look between Rocky and Adrian.
We all just stare for a moment, half expecting something to happen. When nothing does, I give my limbs a little shake and mentally steel myself.
With only a couple strides, I step out of the airlock and into Erid's natural environment.