Mickey2 was Mickey’s shortest iteration, and Mickey3 was his longest. He was Mickey3 for nearly a year during the journey toward Niflheim, without much to do. He began researching failed beachhead colonies and found that much of what he learned in school was not fully true. 

He found out about Asher’s World, an expedition to a planet they thought had oxygen. When they arrived, they discovered an accelerated greenhouse effect had deprived the atmosphere of oxygen, making it inhospitable. The colonists all let themselves suffocate, as they knew they’d never survive on the planet. The mention of suffocation reminded Mickey3 of Mickey2’s death, and Nasha had to calm him down.

Mickey3 originally met Nasha at the carousel, a spinning wheel around the Drakkar’s center that created gravity, allowing colonists to exercise and keep their bone density. He didn’t feel motivated to work out, as whenever he died, his physical body was reset, and so he sat in the corner researching failed colonies on his tablet. Nasha approached him and flirted with him. Later, they had sex, and Nasha assured Mickey3 that she wasn’t a “ghost chaser,” or one of the Natalist women who enjoy the taboo of sex with an Expendable.

Nasha was raised by parents who were refugees from New Hope, a beachhead colony that failed when the residents had a civil war. People on Midgard had a prejudice against people from New Hope, and Nasha wanted to find a new home that accepted her. She became a pilot to get a spot on the Drakkar because she couldn’t get a science degree that would qualify her. On the journey, Nasha and Mickey3 grew closer, and when they arrived to discover that Niflheim was a barely habitable ice ball, Nasha and Mickey3 clung to each other, still hoping to make it their home.

Mickey7 wakes from his stressful caterpillar dream and decides to research the New Hope colony. He finds out that the source of their civil war was a disagreement between colonists who traveled to the colony and colonists born in the colony about whether a corvid bird should be protected or eaten. Mickey7 thinks the true cause is hidden because a seemingly small issue led to the civil war.

Mickey7 and Mickey8 both get an ocular ping to report for security duty. Mickey8 refuses to go and sleeps more while Mickey7 meets up with Cat to prepare for their security rounds outside the dome. Unlike Dugan, Cat takes Mickey7’s advice about what armor and weapons to use. They chat while they walk through the snow, and Cat fails to understand Mickey7’s discussion about the Ship of Theseus. They are attacked by creepers, and while Cat fights them off, Mickey7 has a strange vision of stick figures staring at him and firing weapons. He faints.

Mickey7 wakes in the medical ward. Cat and Burke, the medical officer who’s killed Mickey three times with medical experimentation, are looking at him. Burke finds nothing wrong with him and wonders if he has a tumor, but Mickey7 reminds him that tumors take time to grow, and his body is constantly regenerating. Burke tells him to get his ocular device checked. Mickey7 lies that he will, though he really won’t, because if the ocular requires surgery, they will kill him rather than take the time. 

Mickey7 returns to Mickey8 and fills him in on the events and his strange vision. Mickey8 goes to get food, and before Mickey7 can sleep, he thinks about Asher’s World and Niflheim and their similarities. Asher’s World was too hot, and Niflheim is nearly too cold. He wonders if it’s a tenable location for a surviving colony. Later, Berto messages him and offers him extra calories as an apology for lying. Mickey8 tries to take the food, but Mickey7 demands it as compensation for his several near-death experiences, and Mickey8 acquiesces.

Mickey7 eats real food instead of cycler paste with Berto’s extra calories. He is confused about how Berto has so many calories after Marshall reduced both their caloric allotments. Berto then reveals he got the extra calories by taking bets as to whether he could pilot his ship through a tight gap in a rock formation. He did it and earned the calories. 

As Berto explains his flight, a security officer named Darren, who bet his calories against Berto and lost, attempts to instigate a fight with both Mickey7 and Berto. Darren tries to hit Berto, but Berto quickly parries and beats him up. Other people begin fighting, and Mickey7 tries to avoid getting involved, but someone tasers him until he’s unconscious.

Mickey7 wakes up next to Berto in Marshall’s office. Marshall questions both Berto and Mickey7 about how the fight started. Their stories match the security footage that shows Darren starting the fight, but Marshall also has video footage of Berto doing the unnecessary and dangerous flight. He punishes Berto with further flight duties and reduces his calories by another 10%. He does the same caloric reduction for Mickey7.

Mickey8 is annoyed at the further caloric reduction, but Mickey7 offers him the rest of his calories for the next 36 hours as a peace offering. Nasha messages both Mickeys and asks to hang out, and Mickey8 says yes. Mickey7 is jealous and upset. Mickey8 promises he doesn’t want to have sex with Nasha—he wants to ask her for food. Mickey7 leaves to give Mickey8 privacy and avoid Nasha finding out about their situation.

Mickey7 thinks about the original successful colonialist mission, Eden, the first colony established after leaving Old Earth. What most people don’t know is that Eden was established on the second attempt. The first try was an expedition launched on the Ching Shih, a ship that was rudimentary in comparison to the Drakkar. Twelve years into their 21-year mission, their crops began to fail due to radiation poisoning. People began to starve, and the mission commander became so desperate that she let people offer themselves as food. The last remaining crew members powered down the ship, stripped off their clothes, and stepped out of the main airlock.

Mickey7 goes to the cafeteria. He contemplates talking to someone but realizes that without food, he’ll look suspicious. He sits in the corner and researches failed Old Earth missions of Viking colonists to Greenland, which have similarities to the Niflheim mission, as both struggle with surviving in a cold, inhospitable land. He remembers that Mickey8 wants to eat and realizes he will likely come to the cafeteria with Nasha. 

He quickly messages Mickey8, who tells him that he and Nasha are nearly at the cafeteria. Mickey7 barely escapes seeing them and enters the workout facility. He hopes the people in the cafeteria won’t realize that he left the cafeteria in one outfit before immediately returning in a different one. 

He thinks he’s alone in the workout facility, but Cat is there. She expresses grief over the death of Gillian, Cat’s roommate and one of the security officers who died. Mickey7 says he can’t go back to his room because Nasha is there with someone, which makes Cat think they have an open relationship. Cat invites Mickey7 back to her room so that neither of them has to be alone.