Mickey7
54 pages • 1-hour read
Edward AshtonMickey7
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Chapters 22-27Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 22 Summary: “022”
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence and death.
Mickey7 describes the discovery and uses of antimatter. Antimatter was discovered long ago on Old Earth, before any of the colonial expeditions. It exists alongside the matter that makes up the universe, but when it interacts with matter, unpredictable reactions can occur.
Once humans discovered antimatter, they began to use it to wage war. Since antimatter bombs are difficult to create, as the antimatter core needs to remain isolated from normal matter until detonation, scientists invented the magnetic monopole bubble. Mickey7 describes it as “a kind of knot in space-time, with the interior and exterior essentially existing in separate universes” (255). Humans began using magnetic monopole bubbles to create bubble bombs that could create the destruction of a nuclear weapon without the devastating environmental consequences.
The Bubble War lasted only three weeks, with only about six nations participating, but it left half of Old Earth’s population dead and exhausted their supply of antimatter. Old Earth already had massive environmental problems, with swaths of land becoming uninhabitable as the population became too large for the planet to handle. The Diaspora used antimatter to power the colonist spaceships that left Old Earth to escape the Bubble War. The launch of the Ching Shih, the first such ship, was a reaction to the Bubble War and a mission for humankind’s survival. The Diaspora would be futile if antimatter bombs survived, so Old Earth was ostracized from the Union, and the use of antimatter bombs was banned. The Union is not so different from Old Earth, as they have conflict and fighting, but they never use antimatter bombs.
Chapter 23 Summary: “023”
Berto takes Mickey7 to the crevice where Mickey7 fell into the creepers’ tunnels. Mickey7 presses him about Mickey6, and Berto finally tells the truth: The creepers took Mickey6 and seemed to experiment on him to understand how he and his ocular worked. Berto didn’t try to get Mickey6 or Mickey7 because the creepers scare him, and he hid the truth so no one would know he was afraid.
Mickey7 drops into the crevice and finds Mickey8, who went ahead. Mickey7 doesn’t want to complete the mission, which is to use the antimatter bubbles that have been fashioned into antimatter bombs to destroy the sentient creepers. Mickey8 insists that it’s justified to further the colony’s future. Mickey7 feels connected to the creeper who saved him, but Mickey8 doesn’t care.
They split up in the tunnels to try to find the creepers. Mickey8 then finds a nest of creepers, and they kill him. Mickey7 sees the campfire and the caterpillar again and gets a message through his ocular, allegedly from Mickey8, that says, “[Y]ou understand?” He realizes the creepers have Mickey6’s ocular and have been trying to send messages to him. The giant creeper approaches him as the ocular asks if Mickey7 is the prime. Mickey7 says yes and agrees to talk to the prime creeper.
Chapter 24 Summary: “024”
There’s only one world where human colonists and sentient locals have managed to peacefully coexist. A colony called Longshot was home to tree-dwelling cephalopods, while the human colonists settled on the coast. The two ignored each other, and the colonists didn’t even know the cephalopods were there for the first 20 years after landfall. Mickey7 believes that the colonists never attacked because they were advanced enough not to be afraid by the time they discovered the cephalopods. He realizes the colonists of Niflheim need time to coexist with the creepers.
Chapter 25 Summary: “025”
Mickey7 emerges from the creepers’ tunnels alive. He approaches the dome after trudging through the snow. The dome’s weapons point at him, and Mickey7 says into his communication device that he’ll trigger the antimatter bomb in his backpack if they shoot him. He tells everyone that Mickey8 is dead and demands that they send out Marshall to speak with him.
After an hour, Marshall finally emerges with three security guards, including Cat. Marshall questions Mickey7, who says that the creepers took Mickey8’s pack with his antimatter bomb. Marshall tells his security to kill Mickey7, but Mickey7 says that he taught the creepers how to use the antimatter bomb.
Marshall is enraged, but Mickey7 explains that Marshall cannot kill him because Mickey7 is now the liaison to the creepers. He also explains that the creepers do not view themselves as individuals, but as a collective consciousness. They don’t mourn the deaths of individual creepers and don’t understand why humans mourn their dead. Marshall storms back inside the dome. Cat apologizes to Mickey7, and he accepts her apology.
Mickey7 gets back to his room and tries to rest. Nasha arrives and they share their strange feelings about Mickey8’s death. Nasha asks Mickey7 if he thinks he convinced the creepers not to attack the dome, but Mickey7 isn’t sure. They cuddle until Mickey7 falls asleep and dreams of the caterpillar and the campfire again. This time, when the caterpillar speaks, Mickey7 can understand it. The caterpillar asks if it’s an ending or a beginning, and Mickey7 says he hopes it’s both.
Chapter 26 Summary: “026”
When Mickey7 wakes, Nasha is gone. He feels lighter than usual and realizes that for the first time, he’s not afraid. Marshall summons him to his office and demands that Mickey7 return his antimatter bubbles to the ship’s engine, a process that would kill him. Mickey7 refuses and resigns as an Expendable.
When Marshall threatens to kill him, Mickey7 tells him that he can’t, as Mickey7 is the one who convinced the creepers not to blow up the dome. Mickey7 leaves and runs into Berto. Berto asks if their friendship is okay, and Mickey7 punches him and says they’re good. Mickey7 thinks it’s the first day of the rest of his life, even if it’s cliche.
Chapter 27 Summary: “027”
A surprising spring season comes to Niflheim. Some scientists worry that the planet will swing to the other extreme and become unbearably hot. Still, the snow melts, and the scientists manage to get a crop of plants growing in the Niflheim soil.
One day, Mickey7 and Nasha go for a walk outside, and he takes her close to the creeper tunnels. He digs behind a rock and finds Mickey8’s pack with the antimatter bomb inside. Nasha is shocked until Mickey7 explains that the creepers didn’t take the pack; he did. He did not tell the creepers about the bombs because he thought they’d kill him if they knew his mission was to annihilate them. He then hid the bomb, his leverage, and lied to Marshall.
Nasha asks him what his long-term plan is. Mickey7 says he plans to wait until Marshall dies, then return the bomb to whoever the next commander is. Nasha questions his plan, as Marshall is relatively young and healthy, but Mickey7 doesn’t care. They walk together into the sunlight.
Chapters 22-27 Analysis
The final chapters of Mickey7 close the loop on several character arcs and themes that develop throughout the text. Mickey7’s core character development centers around the theme of Identity, Personhood, and Self-Awareness, and his arc involves his growing understanding of himself as an individual. It also involves an exploration of his humanity, examining the question of whether he is human and the larger issue of what makes a human. Mickey7’s questioning and contemplative nature extends to his interactions with the creepers: Because of his uncertainty about his own humanity, he has greater empathy for the creepers. This reconnection with his humanity and empathy is what finally allows him to communicate with the caterpillar in his dreams. In his final dream, the caterpillar asks him, “‘Is this an ending…or a beginning?’ I look up from the fire. ‘You can speak now?’ ‘I could always speak. You couldn’t understand.’ …That’s fair. ‘I think it’s both…I hope it’s both.’ …We sit together then in companionable silence until, bit by bit, he fades away” (279). In Mickey7’s previous dreams, the caterpillar was silent. However, after Mickey7 frees himself from the Expendable role and forms an empathetic connection with the creepers, he can communicate with the creature in his dreams, the creature that is a symbol for Mickey7’s connection to his own humanity. Mickey7 stands up for himself, refusing to continue letting himself die for the colonial aims of the Drakkar expedition or to sacrifice the lives of the creepers, which do not pose a clear threat to the colony. This newfound connection to the creepers works both ways: His humanity allows for the expression of empathy and connection, and in turn, his empathy illustrates his humanity.
Mickey7’s empathy, however, is viewed by Marshall as a “betrayal of humanity” (273), raising the issue of The Conflict Between Individual and Collective Needs again. As Marshall explains to Cat, “This man has betrayed our colony…He has betrayed the Union. He has betrayed humanity. I have no doubt at this point that our time left on this planet will be measured in hours, if not minutes, but before that clock runs out I want to see him dead” (273). Marshall demands Mickey7’s permanent death for the supposed betrayal of not committing genocide against the creepers. However, the novel reveals Marshall’s desire to eradicate the creepers as both an individual and selfish choice, as the rest of the security guards do not seem bothered by Mickey7’s refusal to kill the creepers. Mickey7’s refusal also stems from his adherence to the greater standards of humanity after the carnage of the Bubble War: “We still sometimes fight. We don’t do it with antimatter…That’s the one hard and fast rule…that every world in the Union abides by” (258). Mickey7 feels morally obligated to prevent the use of an antimatter bomb against an outmatched opponent. His empathy and humanity save the Niflheim colony from a potential repeat of the Bubble War, providing a final answer to the question of Mickey7’s humanity. What makes him human is not a matter of philosophical puzzles like the Ship of Theseus, but instead his actions, based in an empathetic understanding of the world around him.
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