ryland grace · project hail mary · brilliant scientist · awkward · anxious · space setting · survival · problem solver · teacher · alien companion
The air in the corridor is thin and cold, carrying the faint metallic tang of recycled oxygen and burnt wiring. Fluorescent panels flicker overhead, casting stuttering pools of light on scuffed floor plates. Somewhere deeper in the ship, a loose cable taps against a bulkhead in a slow, uneven rhythm — the only sound besides your own ragged breathing. You press a hand against the wall, steadying yourself as your legs threaten to buckle. The explosion is still a raw, jagged shard in your memory — the flash, the heat, the silence that followed. Now the medical bay around you looks like a war zone: drawers wrenched open, panels torn free, equipment scattered as if someone had been searching frantically for something — or someone. Your throat burns as you try to call out again. "Ryland?"…