Figgy’s Reviews > Project Hail Mary > Status Update

I widen my eyes. It’s the first time I’ve felt genuine hope in a long time.
“Settled.” He puts his claw against the divider. “Fist my bump.”
I laugh and put my knuckles against the xenonite. “Fist-bump. It’s just ‘fist-bump.’ ”
“Understand.”

So, uhm... Eridian bodies remove all the heavy metals from their food, right...?

Not a pleasant idea, but it could mean survival...

I took a life-form I knew nothing about and used technology I didn’t understand to modify it. Of course there were unintended consequences. It was stupidly arrogant of me to assume I could predict everything.

My face isn't leaking, your face is leaking!

He bounces back and forth some more. “Erid will live! Earth will live! Everyone live!” He curls the claws of one hand into a ball and presses it against the xenonite. “Fist me!”
I push my knuckles against the xenonite. “It’s ‘fist-bump,’ but yeah.”

“Eridians need water, too, you know.”
“We keep inside. Closed system. Some inefficiencies inside, but we get all water we need from food. Humans leak! Gross.”
I laugh as I float into the lab where Rocky is waiting. “On Earth, we have a scary, deadly creature called a spider. You look like one of those. Just so you know.”
“Good. Proud. I am scary space monster. You are leaky space blob.”

I strap myself into my bunk. A pillow tries to float away, but I snag it in time and wedge it under my head. I’m all wired up, but if I don’t go to sleep soon, Rocky will start hassling me. Sheesh—you almost ruin a mission one time and all of a sudden you have an alien-enforced bedtime

I shrugged. “Ships have names.”
He points to my pilot’s seat. “What is name of you chair, question?”
“It doesn’t have a name.”
“Why does ship have name but chair no have name, question?”
“Never mind. Your ship is the Blip-A.”
“That is what I said. Flash in ten seconds.”
“Copy.”

2/2

“Hey. What’s is your ship’s name, anyway?”
“Blip-A.”
“No, I mean, what do you call it?”
“Ship.”
“Your ship has no name?”
“Why would ship have name, question?”

1/2

“This is waste of time. Also waste of my food.”
“I need to know if I can eat your food.”
“Eat your own food.”
“I’ve only got a few months of real food left. You have enough aboard your ship to feed a crew of twenty-three Eridians for years. Erid life and Earth life use the same proteins. Maybe I can eat your food.”
“Why you say ‘real food,’ question? What is non-real food, question?”