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Part 2

It seemed like 5 lunar cycles before Atom opened his eyes again. His double was gone, or rather, he was gone, no longer standing outside on the planets outer surface in the scorching solar rays. He now stood in silent, damp darkness where only a drop of liquid reverberated every 30 seconds and echoed on into the abyss forever. He scanned his new surroundings slowly, from left to right, his helmets night vision automatically kicked on and painted his surroundings in an eerie blue/green glow and for the second time in the last hour, Atom's heart skipped a beat.

It took him more than a minute to fully understand what he was seeing. All around him stood men still as plasticine soldiers who fell asleep where they stood with their eyes wide open and staring straight ahead wearing no expression on their faces; a blankness neither serene or shocked nor anything in between. 

It took him another minute to realize they were him, all of them, dressed in the same, heavy radiation repellent undergarments he was wearing right now under his Spatium Suit. He turned off the night vision and activated the external lights of his helmet. He saw exposed ducts and pipework, the room was large and went on forever, as did the replicants, hundreds of them. He was in what appeared to be the Grand Astral Subterranean Port Hangar located hundreds of miles away from where he was and 3 miles below the barren dry soil of Gaia Secundus...was he going mad?

Suddenly, a weak green flicker and low volume alarm went off within Atom's helmet and he jumped again, almost reflexively tapping it off. The alert indicated there was now substantial fresh oxygen levels in the great room and he could remove his helmet.

Atom thought about this. Maybe he was asleep and this was just a dream or maybe he was unconscious still on the surface of this unforgiving planet, removing his helmet could mean instant death. Then he stopped breathing again as he felt a hand firmly gripping his shoulder...the terror from only moments before returned.

Part 3

Atom awoke in a bright flash of light, inhaling deep and loud, squinting, gasping, panicked. He felt lighter, and vulnerable. He touched his forehead with the back of his bare hand and patted the rest of his body; he was out of his Spatium Suit, and the oxygen tasted stale, metallic and cold. He was painted in a blinding white light and surrounded by other human forms, silhouettes. The sudden rush of air to his brain made him light-headed and he began to fall forward uncontrollably, reaching out to the closest body hoping someone might catch him before he crashed to the floor.

He grazed the shape in front of him as he went down in what felt like slow motion. His consciousness blinked into another bright flash of new awareness from a different vantage point now. He was still falling but from an upright position again as if the whole scene had been rewound and allowed to cruely play out once more. He reached out again touching an elbow or a shoulder in an effort to stop or slow his fall - ZAP! A sudden flash and the process repeated itself.

This strange sensation happened over and over until in one last variation of himself he was finally whirling towards to the floor. In shock and almost relief he gathered his wits and slowly raised his head from where he now sat on the cold stone floor. There before him stood a vast sea of himself; doppelgängers, a grey and lifeless mass of empty shells, a few in a long line laid out like dominos or a path back from where this action began. His consciousness had been transferred from one to the next like an organic series of pulses jumping across a wireless system of lights. A flash, a gasp, a flash, a gasp, an asthmatic strobing dance of madness. It had been near impossible to ever catch his breath and darkness was closing in until he finally fell for the last time. He had made it to the base of the light source and the front of the line. He breathed with a new hunger.

The floor was cold and clean, sterile as was his new body; he slowly raised his head still panting and teary eyed. Before him stood a man geared up in a full Spatium Suit, teetering, light exploded from the crown of his helmet washing the room in a heavy sickly green-yellow glow and haze. His back was turned towards Atom. With a rush of adrenaline, Atom jumped to his feet and grabbed the man by the shoulder - FLASH!

Atom blinked and looked around, he was again suited up and once more kicking up dust on the surface of Gaia Secundus. The alarm in his helmet told him he needed to focus on regulating his breathing and calming down. He sat down on a nearby rock, suffering from a mild case of vertigo. To finally stop moving felt good, he needed to process all of this and run a full system scan of his suit. He had learned at the academy one can experience hallucinations if the oxygen being used is less than pure or has been contaminated during the recycling process. He needed to get back to base where he could examine his Neo-Rebreathe Unit. He stood up fast and caught himself again, he was still slightly dizzy. Steadying himself he looked up slowly and in the distance he saw someone else approaching, moving with intent towards him.

The solar winds died down...