EVA Michael (Elena decided that label would do for now in her head) shook his head vigorously, backing away a step from Juliet's attempted assistance. "No, I… I'm not leaving this spot until I get answers. I might be half dead but I'm not crazy. That—" he jabbed a finger again towards the other Michael, "is an imposter or—or something!"
The inside Michael looked stricken. "Imposter? I'm no imposter. I'm me. Michael. I came in through that airlock, they dragged me in and I almost died from the radiation, I woke up in medbay…" He glanced at Juliet for confirmation. She nodded slowly.
EVA Michael's face crumpled in confusion. "I never made it inside until now… I thought I was going to die out there. How can you say you woke up in medbay? I was the one out there in the storm!"
Juliet placed herself gently but firmly between them as well, forming a human barrier alongside Elena. "Both of you, please. I know this is overwhelming. Believe me, we are just as confused. But right now, you both need care." She looked at Elena. "Captain, I must insist we get them both to medbay. We need to check for injuries and possibly sedate if—"
"I'm not letting him out of my sight," EVA Michael interrupted, eyes wild. "He's not who he says he is. He can't be."
"And I'm not letting him out of my sight either," the other Michael countered, anger flashing now in his tone. "How do we know you're the real one and not some… some clone or hallucination from outside?"
Elena raised her voice over them, injecting steel into it. "Enough!" The two fell silent, though tension radiated off them. She had to regain control. "Listen. Until we figure this out, nobody is declaring anyone an imposter. For all we know, there's been some kind of mistake or… duplication." The word felt strange, but it was out there now.
She continued, "Our priorities are: make sure both of you are stable and healthy. Then we gather data and figure out what happened. Understood?"
Both Michaels looked at her, then each other. After a moment, they nodded, almost in unison. It was eerie, like watching mirrored reflections.
"Devon," Elena said, turning to her tech specialist, "set up a secure compartment. We might need to keep one of them… separate, just as a precaution." She hated implying that, but safety protocols for unidentified entities—if that's what one was—called for quarantine.
"Yes, ma'am," Devon said, though he looked uneasy at the notion. He quickly pulled up a station schematic on his tablet. "We could use the secondary storage bay. It's shielded and has life support. We can make it comfortable."
Juliet shook her head. "Putting one of them in a cell like a prisoner right now might cause more trauma. They're already on edge."
Elena understood the concern. But she also didn't relish the idea of them staying in the same room for long unattended. "We'll try to avoid that unless absolutely necessary. For now, let's all go to medbay together. We'll sort it out there."
She addressed EVA Michael. "I know you don't want to be apart from… him." She gestured to the other. "So you can accompany us to medbay. But you need to let Dr. Whitaker examine you, alright? And that means removing the suit and getting on a scanner."
He hesitated, then gave a grudging nod. Fatigue was clearly crashing down on him now; Elena could see how heavily he leaned on the wall.
"And you," Elena turned to the inside of Michael, "you'll cooperate as well?"
He nodded. "Of course." There was a tremor in his voice—whether from anger or fear, she couldn't tell. Maybe both.
"Captain," Sera spoke up timidly from behind Elena, "should I… call this in? To corporate HQ?"
Elena considered. Protocol would be to report any unusual incident immediately. But she had a gut feeling this situation would be volatile if the higher-ups got wind too soon. Corporate would likely order a lockdown, maybe even something drastic. Out here, cut off by the storm's lingering comm blackout (which, ironically, might persist since they had shut down external comms for safety), she had a little leeway.
"Not yet," Elena said carefully. "External long-range comms are still offline, anyway. We'll report once we have more clarity."
Sera pressed her lips together but didn't object. Elena suspected she was relieved not to have to explain this to HQ just yet.
The two Michaels were eyeing each other warily across the few meters of bay between them. Neither moved. It struck Elena that neither wanted to turn their back on the other.
She sighed inwardly. This was going to be a long, delicate process.
"Juliet, lead the way to medbay," she ordered. "Devon, Sera, you flank… our guest." She indicated EVA Michael. "I'll walk with—" she looked inside Michael, "with him."
No one said it aloud, but by unspoken agreement, Elena stayed near the Michael who'd been inside, while Sera and Devon accompanied the exhausted newcomer. Juliet moved ahead, clearing the path in case any other crew (not that there were more beyond the five of them) came by to complicate matters.
Slowly, they made their way out of the airlock bay. The procession was tense and quiet, save for the clank of EVA boots from the newcomer and the soft hiss of cooling systems in his suit. Elena felt like she was escorting a volatile prisoner and a known innocent simultaneously—except she didn't truly know which was which. And what did innocence mean, if neither had done anything wrong except exist?
As they floated and stepped through the dim corridors, Elena's mind churned. One Michael might be the original, the other… a duplicate of some kind. The question was how. A fluke of physics? A corporate experiment gone awry? She had no answers yet.
Her gaze drifted to the inside of Michael walking beside her. He rubbed his temples, as if feeling a headache, and glanced at her. "Captain… Elena," he said under his breath, "you believe me, right? I mean, you've known me for months." The unspoken end of that sentence was clear: You've known me, not him.
Elena set her jaw. "I know you're Michael. I also know he is convinced he's Michael. We'll find the truth." It was the most neutral response she could manage.
He absorbed that, looking hurt but nodding.
Up ahead, the EVA Michael stumbled and put a hand on Devon's shoulder to steady himself. Devon and Sera both grabbed his arms to keep him upright. "Almost there," Sera murmured kindly. He muttered something back that Elena couldn't hear.
Finally, they reached the medbay. Juliet ushered them all in, directing EVA Michael to sit on a second cot opposite the first. Inside Michael's previous bed was still rumpled and warm from him. Now he stood rather than lay back down, not willing to be prone while his double was in the room.
EVA Michael struggled out of his EVA suit with Devon's help. When the upper torso piece came off, Juliet inhaled sharply. Elena followed her gaze: his undershirt was stained with blood at the side—apparently he had an injury they hadn't noticed beneath the suit. A ragged gash along his ribcage, perhaps from a sharp edge during the EVA.
Juliet was on it immediately. "You should have told me you were hurt," she scolded gently, pressing a clean gauze from her kit to staunch the bleeding.
He winced, letting her tend to it. "Didn't feel it... adrenaline," he murmured, exhausted. His eyes kept flicking to the other Michael across the medbay.
Inside Michael was watching the procedure with a complicated expression—guilt, perhaps, that he came out unscathed while the other was injured? He hugged his arms to himself, looking down at his own identical body as if doubting its reality.
Elena positioned herself in the center of the room. "Alright, Juliet. Once you patch him, I want full scans on both of them. Compare everything—DNA, implants, biometrics. Devon, assist with any computer cross-checks needed. Sera, monitor comms and ensure this doesn't leak beyond our team."
Everyone nodded, slipping into familiar roles despite the bizarre scenario. For a moment, Elena felt a swell of pride in her crew; they were frightened, yes, but they were professionals. They'd handle this scientifically, step by step.
As Juliet prepared the scanners, Elena allowed herself a moment to breathe. Her reflection in the polished metal of a cabinet caught her eye—she looked as haggard as she felt. This day had turned into something out of a nightmare, and it was far from over.
She looked over at the two Michaels again: one lying down now as Juliet insisted, being tended to; the other standing awkwardly to the side, rubbing his arms as if cold, staring at his double. Two living, breathing men, each believing they were the original.
Elena didn't know what terrified her more: the idea that one of them was something else entirely, or the possibility that they were both Michael, in some unfathomable way. Either reality would upend everything she thought she knew about science, about identity, about her duty as captain.
No supernatural or alien explanation, she reminded herself. It was a mantra to keep her grounded. There had to be a logical explanation. And they would find it, here in the fluorescent-lit calm of the medbay, before fear tore this crew apart.
She clenched her fists lightly, drawing on her training and resolve. The only way through was forward—one careful step at a time into the unknown.