Star Rats

Two astronauts arrive on a foreign planet, but they're not alone... duplicates of themselves have already arrived on the same planet.

Dramatis Personae

Demian (Human)

Terry (Human)

Demian X (Duplicate)

Terry X (Duplicate)

I

This shouldn't have been like this.

Back on Marinis 5, our space station, our superiors told us this place was lifeless. No plants, no animals, no people... Then who are these two astronauts who look just like us?

I looked at Terry, and he was as confused as me.

We were supposed to see if this planet could be terraformed. That was our mission: Travel to Axeris, explore and analyze the planet, and leave. We just did step one and we encountered these two beings.

"Who are you?" Terry asked the two... clones? I don't know what to call them.

They were near their ship. The ship was totally different from ours though. It looked more advanced and older, like it had been through a lot.

"Who are you?" Terry asked again.

There was a short, but uncomfortable silence before one of them started talking. It was me. The other me.

"Hello. I'm sorry to disturb you, Demian and Terry. As you might have realized by now we are you. I am Demian and he is Terry, but you can call us Demian X and Terry X to avoid confusion. We come from the future," they said as they took their helmets off. The planet had no air. What they were doing was suicide.

"Wait, what are you doing? Stop!" Terry shouted.

Their faces were hideous. It was the most horrifying thing I had ever laid my eyes upon. Terry threw up inside his suit. It was too much for him to handle.

"What... What are you?" Terry asked after a few seconds.

"We told you, we are you," Terry X said.

"What happened to you... me?"

"The end happened."

"The end?" I asked.

"Yes. We were sent back in time. We come from the end of all things. Ten years from now, to be more specific," Demian X said.

"It all started here in Axeris, home of Elenixzsc, the life eater," Terry X continued. "In the future, Elenixzsc has consumed almost all life in the universe. We are probably the only two beings who have temporarily escaped his grasp, but as you can see in our faces we'll soon die as well. We just delayed the inevitable."

"Why can you be here without your helmets?" Terry asked them.

"This place has breathable air. This is a strange phenomenon made by Elenixzsc. This abomination transcends time and space, and it can do many impossible things," Demian X said.

We took off our helmets and they were right: We could breathe.

"When Elenixzsc arrived at Marinis 5, our minds were linked for a moment and now we know what's going to happen to the omniverse and what we need to do to save it. As Terry X said, we just delayed the inevitable"

"What do you need us to do?" I asked my future self.

"There's an ancient temple on this planet. When we first came here our technology didn't show us anything. It's invisible to radars, and machinery. You have to destroy the temple. You can't enter. If you enter, all will be lost. We have a bomb powerful enough to vaporize that place. It's inside our time machine.

"This deserted planet is where it all started and this is where it ends. We have to finish this before it begins," Demian X said.

"Why don't we just leave?" Terry asked.

"You can't. We can't. We have to do this. You have to do this," Demian X said.

The four of us stood there in awkward silence for seconds that felt like hours.

"Where do we go?" Terry asked, finally breaking the silence.

II

Our future selves guided us to the temple. It was a painful walk for them. I and Terry carried the bomb in our hands. It was heavy, and very advanced. I really hoped this worked. I believed in my future's self words.

"We're here," Terry X said when we got to the temple.

It looked ancient, like it was from another time and place.

"I think this is it for us," continued Terry X. "We have no strength left in us. Save us all. Save us all..." and after a few seconds he turned into flickering ashes.

"This is the end for me as well," Demian X said with a sad smile. "We gave our all. Take care, Terry. Be happy for me, Demian. Per Aspera... Ad Astra..." said my future self before vanishing the same way as Terry X.

I looked at Terry and he was shocked. I was as well.

"What now, Demian?" Terry asked.

"We finish what our future selves started."

We left the bomb at the entrance of the temple. The activation device was in Terry's hand. It had an insanely long range, so we returned to our ship and flew outside the planet. We waited there in space, looking at Axeris in silence.

Terry was sweating. His right hand was grabbing the activation device, shaking.

"Do it, Terry," I commanded.

"But the mission... This... This is too much."

"I know, but I trust in our future selves. Do you trust yourself?"

"Y- Yes..."

"Then we press the button. Together."

I put my finger on the button and we pressed it. A few seconds passed before we saw a huge explosion on the surface of Axeris.

We felt a chill in our backs and something else; a horrible sensation, then peace.

That was ten years ago.

It seems failure is part of this. We are nothing in the grand scheme of things, but we have to save the universe. We just have to try again.

My name is Demian X and this shouldn't have been like this.