Work Text:
Notes on the Humanoid Entity
Spontaneously Manifested
Within the Hail Mary
Dr. Ryland Grace
This log is to be updated periodically as more observations/data are obtained in the analysis of the humanoid entity and the physical and mental conditions thereof.
Initial Observations:
Entity appears to be an adult male human between ages of 30 and 40 years, likely of East Asian descent, estimated height between 170 and 180cm. Oral temperature measured at 37 degrees C. Keen physical and sensory reflexes; slight loss of equilibrium due to recent amputation of left arm. Identifies self as “Simon”, no surname. Speaks an unknown dialect of American English containing some pidgin words/syntax of unknown etymology but otherwise comprehensible.
Exact origin unknown. “Simon” has provided descriptions of Earth, Mars, and surrounding natural and artificial satellites that do not match known historical records, with a timeline divergence at least as far back as the late 20th century. Reluctant to provide specific details and exhibits stress when asked. Also described is a “blood ocean”; whether this is a literal or metaphorical moniker is unclear due to extreme emotional distress during communication. Analysis of means of potential cross-universe travel is beyond the scope of this report; these details are provided only to contextualize anomalies observed.
“Simon” was found in grow room of Hail Mary (officially designated the “observation room”, has been repurposed) entirely coated in substance closely resembling human blood; no apparel of any kind. Substance had begun to pool outward on the grow room floor, suggesting “Simon” had been present for a prolonged time before being noticed, possibly unconscious or in shock; exact duration unknown. Samples were taken of the blood substance from the pool on the floor after assisting “Simon” into the WC for a shower. Samples have not yet been studied and have been stored in lab refrigerator in sealed containers.
“Simon” is missing left arm up to approximately halfway between the elbow and shoulder. Humerus intact up to site of amputation; no major fractures detected on the bone. Amputated arm displays full range of motion without causing pain. Site of amputation shows extreme traumatic injury, which has scabbed over; scab has not been observed to bleed or rupture.
Extensive scabbing of similar appearance found also found on left side of face and neck, with particular concentration around left eye socket and cheekbone. Jaw function is normal. Left eyeball shows no difference from right; vision is clear, pupil dilates normally; no dysfunction in movement.
[ADDENDUM 1]
“Simon” has been under observation for 36 hours at this point. Has taken water in suitable proportion/frequence for height and build.
All offered food has been refused. “Simon” insists on feeling no hunger. However, conversation has revealed intimate experience with food shortages and starvation conditions; unclear if “Simon” is being truthful about lack of hunger or is refusing food as a reflex to perceived scarcity. (Note: will continue to offer food at regular intervals.)
Agreed to taking vitamin and mineral supplement tablets. No adverse reaction was observed to taking vitamins without food in stomach.
Behavior is overly cautious, shows signs of recent severe psychological trauma. Easily startles at unexpected noises. Avoidant of Rocky both in the mobile capsule and in the tunnel network. Sleeps restlessly in short bursts; sleep cycle brainwaves have not yet been recorded.
Analysis of blood-like substance reveals nearly identical structure to human blood, with >70% hematocrit. Blood type testing suggests type AB+. Red blood cells appear independently motile through unknown means, reacting to light and sound. Analyzed sample incinerated; remaining samples frozen.
[ADDENDUM 2]
72 hours after intake. Simon is still drinking water but not eating. Shows no signs of starvation and continues to deny feeling hunger.
Spends majority of time in grow room. Appears to enjoy the UV lamps; testing needed to determine possible vitamin D deficiency. Avoidant behavior not observed when discussing plants and caretaking thereof; has requested a laptop for botanical research, which was immediately given. Particularly interested in the following grow room specimens: mandarin orange, almond, pear, fig, macadamia.
Scabbing is still present on face and amputated arm. No changes noted in appearance nor in function of underlying muscle. No inflammation around sites of scabbing. No bleeding or discharge of any kind. To avoid possible adverse reactions during healing process, tissue samples of the sites have not been taken.
Still sleeping poorly. Reacts worse when lights are turned off.
[ADDENDUM 3]
Day 5; no change in food/water intake.
Drew a blood sample from right arm. Portioned into a few different vials, centrifuged one. Hematocrit 62%, presumed due to elevated RBC count rather than decreased plasma, as Simon is not showing any symptoms of severe fluid loss. Type O-.
Also noted high levels of glucose and sucrose in blood despite not eating. Again, no further anomalous symptoms observed; did not show signs of pancreatic damage/disease nor (pre)diabetes. Review of internal ship logs and survey of grow room showed nothing to account for elevated blood sugar; Simon hasn’t been sneaking food.
Supplements are still being administered without any issue. Noted no vitamin/mineral deficiencies in blood, including vitamin D.
Avoidant behavior is easing. Simon is friendlier toward Rocky, but still startled by the sounds of the ball capsule when Rocky is somewhere Simon can’t see. Still likes to stay in the grow room reading about plants and gardening. I’ve started visiting him there more often and talking with him or just reading my own material next to him; he doesn’t seem to mind but also doesn’t talk much while I’m there. Doesn’t like the DGC room even when the screens are already all lit up.
(Note: Getting a little frustrated with these test results. It’s all data, no symptoms. Nothing qualitative to diagnose or explain it. Just weird readings that don’t seem to connect to anything else. At least Simon doesn’t seem to be in any pain.)
[ADDENDUM 4]
Day 6. Simon finally ate! Chose one serving of beef jerky and one serving of brown rice. Offers to add other food items to these were declined. This was at lunch; he did not eat anything for breakfast or dinner.
Measured Simon’s breaths to see if something could be causing the erythrocytosis. Found he exhales a low amount of CO2 and a high amount of O2 relative to baseline (my breathing). I would say maybe he’s not efficiently absorbing or using the oxygen he’s breathing in, thus the need to offset with increased RBC production.
But, once again, he isn’t presenting any adverse symptoms to go with the bizarre readings. Isn’t short of breath. Sleeping slightly better and doesn’t have any sleep apnea or other respiratory issues during. Plenty active and alert and has even begun to use some of the ship’s exercise equipment in between his long stays in the grow room. Pulse is 60bpm, feels very strong.
I still haven’t gotten that sample of the weird scabs. He isn’t inflamed, but there's a slight green tint to the skin around those areas, but the skin doesn’t feel hot or tender when touched. Simon isn’t bothered at all when I palpate the affected areas. Maybe some kind of contaminate in the scab is leaching into surrounding tissue. I’m just worried I could seriously disturb a very sensitive wound site for another batch of inconclusive data, and I especially don’t want to introduce a potential point of infection there. Considering antibiotics, may swab the area and culture it.
Besides those areas, his skin is perfectly healthy, no unexplained bruises/sores, feels springy and warm. Right palm is heavily callused with some faded scarring, but still feels healthy to the touch. Facial muscles still work, even on the left side. Smiles really big just fine.
Noted canine teeth on left side are elongated in comparison those on the right, but postponed further analysis. Didn’t want to be weird while he was watching me play Yoshi’s Story; he’s calmed down a lot in the last few days and I don’t want him to freak out.
[ADDENDUM 5]
It’s been a week since I found Simon. Yesterday got my hopes up, but he’s back to not eating. Still drinking water, still taking supplements. No new symptoms of disease or deficiencies, the usual.
I almost wish something would happen to the weird scabby areas. He’s been showering fine without the sites looking damaged or waterlogged in the way that wounds tend to get when you bathe (note: yuck), so this time before he went into the shower I asked if I could see how the stuff on his face and arm react to the water. It was very enlightening.
(Note: I offered to keep my briefs on, but Simon told me he’d spent over a decade in prison and would honestly think it was weirder if I stayed dressed-- I guess the communal lifestyle had become comfortably familiar for him; either that or staying clothed would make me look like I was hiding something-- so I stripped down. Never let it be said I don’t sacrifice literally everything in the name of science.)
I really am starting to think this stuff on his skin is something completely out of the ordinary. There was absolutely no change noted when exposed to water; the growth (note: I think that’s what I want to call it now) just got darker and appeared hydrated without losing any structural integrity.
Felt very firm to the touch, same as when dry, just maybe slightly springier. Small bits flaked off when scratched with fingernail; Simon described a tickling sensation, but no pain. Applying pressure to the growth also caused no pain. Simon can sense pressure and other touches on the surface of the growths with surprising fidelity, but describes the feeling as “below” the surface, as if the growths are in a very thick non-enervated layer and his actual skin is a short distance underneath.
Don’t want to try fully removing the growth yet since there’s no malignancy noted; it’s not spreading up the body, it just isn’t retreating either. With how little he’s eating, I don’t know how his body would handle the anesthesia and subsequent healing necessary for an operation of this scale. I won’t resort to surgery if I don’t absolutely have to.
One other anomaly noted: strong, cloying smell while within the shower. Sort of floral or fruity. If I had to place it, I would say it smelled like maple syrup. My hands also had a vague maple-y scent for an hour or two after showering, particularly concentrated under my nails where I’d scratched off that little bit of the growth. Possibly related to high sugars in Simon’s blood? Shower water was very hot; could have secreted excess sugars through sweat. Inconclusive as usual.
Simon seems enthusiastic about participating in further research.
[ADDENDUM 6]
Bit the bullet and took a small sample of the growths. Used a scalpel to remove a very small, thin piece from the surface of the growth on the amputation site of the left arm. Simon reported no pain from the procedure, just psychological distress at the use of the scalpel. Noticed slight discharge at site of sample, but no bleeding. Discharge is translucent amber color and has the same weird cloying smell I’d noticed in the shower. Applied a bandaid with some antiseptic to the area and it seemed to heal on its own shortly, even though the bandaid had trouble sticking to the growth.
I shaved a translucent slice from my sample and put it under the microscope. Tried 10x, 40x, 100x... I’m not sure how to describe what I saw. The growth consists of a unique tissue, with distinct, organized cells (i.e. not just clotted blood like I’d assumed), but they definitely aren’t like any squamous cells I’ve ever seen. I want to say they don’t even look human; they have an almost geometric shape with very thick cell membranes. It was hard to tell whether they were alive or not at the time of observation, but the amber secretion at the sample site suggests some flow of blood or other bodily fluid to these weird cells. At least it didn’t look infected or anything.
Simon seemed somewhat distressed over my reluctance/inability to identify exactly “what’s wrong with him,” as he put it. I offered to let him look into the microscope and he hesitated at first, then became very interested. He took to the controls like a natural and asked to be allowed to see any future samples I take. I agreed, of course. Only fair that a guy gets to look at his own cells.
I mentioned I still had some refrigerated samples from the blood I drew earlier and he asked to look at that, too, so I prepped a slide and set it up for him. He seemed relieved by what he saw. From what I could gather, he’s been worried about some kind of infectious agent from the blood-like substance I’d found him in (from the “blood ocean”, which he still doesn’t want to talk about in any real detail), so testing if I can culture something from the stuff may be necessary. I explained to him the motile RBC, AB+ typing, and even higher hematocrit of the “ocean blood” didn’t match with Simon’s own lab results at all, and he was so visibly relieved I thought he was going to cry. Got a firsthand experience of how perfectly strong and healthy his muscles are despite the starvation conditions thanks to the big hug he gave me.
I still wish I knew what was up with his crazy condition, but at least he seems happy. I’ll just have to keep looking, I guess.
[ADDENDUM 7]
Simon is still spending most of his time in the grow room, and Rocky and I are happy to hang out with him for it. I have to admit, UV basking does feel a lot nicer than taking Vitamin D tablets. (Totally irrelevant note: I explained the whole process to Rocky, who seemed horrified, which tracks for his own experience. Maybe I shouldn’t have used the word “radiation” so freely.)
I’ve been asking Simon lots of random questions about his botanical research, partly just to pass the time, and I’m honestly learning a lot. Plus, it’s reassuring to see your resident medical mystery just chatting and smiling and looking fully at ease. Helps take the edge off all the hand-wringing I’ve been doing.
I brought out a chessboard to give our eyes a break from staring at screens all day (and to let Rocky have something to look at that doesn’t require his camera). Simon is so good it’s honestly a little scary (I’m not used to feeling like the dumbest guy in the room). Besides having a total freaking blast playing against him, I feel like I also got some solid proof that his cognitive function is perfectly fine. All that mystery-sugar in his blood must be awesome brainfood. I let Rocky backseat-pilot me and he managed to beat Simon, but it was a brutal war of attrition. Simon said some expletives about aliens always cheating and laughed really hard.
I meant to do more tests or take samples or something today, but it slipped my mind! Just had fun hanging out with my best friend and the new guy. That’s important for science, too. The first rule of science is just to have fun and be yourself. Or maybe the first rule is to always wear proper PPE and the second rule is to have fun.
[ADDENDUM 8]
Simon’s refusal to eat is begging- and bribery-proof. He just swears up and down he isn’t hungry. I’m starting to actually believe him.
Went back and looked through all my slides and all the prior lab results. Still inconclusive. I really don’t get what I’m looking at here. What’s prompting the high hematocrit? What’s all the extra RBC even accomplishing if he’s barely doing any gas exchange when he breathes? What’s happening with his weird scar tissue? And where the flip is all that sugar coming from???
I’ll add more later. This is giving me a splitting headache, and ibuprofen is far too precious a resource on this ship. I’m going to see if Simon wants to poke around with the microscope a little more. Between the taumoeba fiasco and this, I’m starting to develop some horrible Pavlovian response that has my blood pressure spiking the second I even think about my lab equipment. I need to associate it with something fun.
[ADDENDUM 9]
I’m an idiot.
[ADDENDUM 10]
He’s photosynthesizing. I can’t believe it. He’s laughing so hard he’s crying and I can’t tell if it’s just delirious relief he isn’t dying or if he’s laughing at me specifically for being an idiot.
I’ll talk more later. Wow.
[ADDENDUM 11]
Alright, let me walk you through the process.
So, first off, I had the aforementioned Poke Around With The Microscope session with the aforementioned Simon. After we killed at least an hour looking at random samples from ourselves-- skin, cheek swabs, saliva, hair-- he had this big lightbulb moment and said he wanted to try looking at some plants with it, too. I said that’s a great idea, because plant cells have so many similarities and differences with animal cells that they make for some remarkable points of comparison/contrast.
I told him one of the most interesting things is looking at a cross-section of a plant stem and seeing all the vascular tissue. He seemed a little upset at the idea of slicing a stem in half, so I suggested we pick a leaf off of one plant and just slice the stem of that. He selected a weird-looking and slightly discolored leaf from one of the peanut plants that was likely doomed to be shed pretty soon anyway, to minimize damage. I went at it with a scalpel and prepared a slide with both a cross-section slice and a lengthwise slice at the thickest part of the leaf stem.
As soon as I looked down at that slide, I knew it. In that instant, the great cosmic truth of my own idiocy was revealed to me. Most of what happened from that point is a blur of screaming, celebrating, repeating myself, and generally flipping out. Rocky came rushing in because he thought I was dying. I’m not even sure if he understood my ecstatic nonsense summary I gave him, or if he cared, but he wasn’t going to turn down an excuse to make noise.
That was a little while ago, and now I’m here, sufficiently calmed down enough to type, although my hands are still buzzing and I feel like I have pure hydrogen where my brain should be. This kind of feeling never gets old: the crash of realizing you overlooked something followed by the euphoria of having that elusive solution finally within your shaky, sweaty grasp. That’s what it’s all about. Well, that and helping people, I guess.
All over Simon’s skin, he’s fully photosynthetic. The high hematocrit seems to be an adaptation to allow his blood to carry sufficient amounts of both O2 and CO2 in both directions; his photosynthetic cells require additional CO2 on top of the HCO3- in the plasma (simply carrying extra HCO3- would throw off the blood’s pH), and they’re giving off O2 that immediately needs space to dissolve back into the blood. The hematocrit is probably also why he doesn’t really look green despite all this.
The sugars in his bloodstream are the byproduct of the photosynthesis. He’s producing his own food, so he’s not hungry. He’s also producing about as much O2 as he’s using.
The stuff growing on Simon’s injury sites is sugar maple bark that has fully integrated with his dermis. This is fully plant tissue, not like the hybrid cells on some of the rest of his body. It produces a sap (i.e. maple syrup, which is mostly sucrose) inside the vascular tissue that gives him that weird maple smell, and that’s what “bled” out that time I took the tiny bark sample.
I feel like I’ve got a million more questions, albeit mostly just variations on “how the heck” and “why the heck,” but before I tackle those, I’d like to enjoy this victory for a little while. I’ll organize my thoughts better afterwards and outline future avenues of study. As I write this, Simon is bugging me to quit typing because he has an idea for something else he’d like to try exccvperinentubg qyfh,
[ADDENDUM 12]
The sucrose doesn’t only show up in blood, sap, and sweat. Other things too.
Further research urgently necessary.