I received a distress signal from a planetary colony on Tormal IV… something about a raid by an unidentified group. The message wasn't very clear, but it was nearby so I didn't think it'd hurt to check it out. When my ship entered orbit, electromagnetic fields began to tamper with the controls. I quickly lost control and wound up crash landing five klicks south from the intended landing site. Almost every facet of my ship was badly damaged in the crash, and I lacked the tools to fix it let alone tow it to a hangar. With those magnetic fields in effect, I highly doubted that I'd be able to take off again anyway.
I ventured out and immediately found that the signals also interfered with my suit's HUD display not to mention the sandstorm going on. Using the shadows of nearby rocks I determined which direction was north and began to head that direction. Using my suit's Speed Boost I made short work of the distance and arrived in roughly thirty to forty minutes. My HUD's clock wasn't functional, so I couldn't keep track. I hoped it'd clear up once I was inside the facility. I examined the external landing platform and found that there were no vehicles to be found. After finding the door to the internal hangar, I discovered it was locked… so I used my "key" to get in.
The inside of the hangar looked almost as if it'd been abandoned. I didn't like it one bit, and to make matters worse the facility had no power. If I wanted to get my ship repaired, I'd have to restore this place or at least turn on its auxiliary power long enough to repair my ship. The second thing to deal with after that would be the magnetic fields of the planet. I began to wonder though, why didn't my ship's database tell me about the magnetic fields on the planet? I downloaded the star system data directly from a Federation terminal, and by law they have to be up to date. For now I had to use force to get into the main base.
The first hall looked fine as far as condition goes. My HUD was able to correct itself thanks to the insulation, so I was able to do a motion scan. Nothing, not even insects in the nooks and crannies. Strangely enough, the life support was still functional in the facility despite the power outage, so I could stock back up what air I'd used up making it here. Upon entering the main chamber I found the signs of struggle that'd warrant a distress beacon. There were corpses of Federation soldiers and scientists. Their bodies had wounds seemingly made by an energy attack. My visor didn't recognize the signature of the residue left behind on the bodies. One thing was evident, and that was that these corpses have been here for a very long time. Why did the beacon only just now get off world?
At that moment, my motion scanner picked up movement on an upper level. I took aim and I stopped in shock at what I saw staring down at me. It was like a mirror… standing there like a silent watcher was an exact replica of my Power Suit. My scans didn't find any organic life inside of it, but it was still sentient. It took aim at me and a strange black energy began charging. I barely dodged it in time when the replica launched its attack. The beam had left the same residue on the floor as the residue on the corpses. It was the one behind their deaths, I was sure of it.
My replica leapt down and I engaged it in combat. It moved like me, but seemed to be slightly faster. We both fired a Frost shot and froze each other's cannon, but then my copy charged me out of the blue. The ice on its cannon shattered and the cannon transformed itself into a bulky gauntlet with studs on it. It slammed its fist into my stomach sending me through a wall and plummeting down a shaft. I crashed back and forth on the walls causing my suit to start coming apart. When I reached the bottom of the shaft, hardly anything of my armor was left. My HUD had been severely damaged, I no longer had access to the majority of my suit's abilities, and my auto-mapping system was malfunctioning. The only thing I had left other than my cannon was my missile reserve.
My copy didn't follow me, but I wasn't about to take the chance of it coming down after me. I hurried through several doors and founds myself in a garden area of sorts. Strangely, I heard giggling, like there was a child nearby. I hurried to the source and to my surprise… there was a child. A small girl no older than six years old with hair gold as the sun who wore a black and grey Zero Suit. She was playing around with what looked like a sphere of some sort. When the girl noticed me, she wasn't afraid at all.
"Mommy?" she asked tilting her head. I told her that I wasn't her mother, and she got a puzzled look.
"You aren't mommy? Nah, you can't lie to me, mommy. You and I are the only ones on the station. You told me so." the girl laughed running to cling to my leg. She was adamant in believing that I was her mother despite my protests. It was then that it occurred to me… my replica was on a higher floor… could that be her mother? Why would she have a replica of my suit? For now I decided to play along and asked her name.
"My name? Mommy, you forgot again? Samus Aran." she replied, and I was in disbelief. Why did she have the same name as me? Now I was determined to find out exactly what was going on in this facility… even if I had a faint idea from her alone.
I told her that I need to look around the facility, and she tilted her head. When I asked her what she was staring for, she said I'd already patrolled this sector ten times today. I told her that I might have missed some spots and need another once over. She immediately asked to "go with me this time", so I guess the replica has her stay away from places with potential dangers. She might be a helpful source of information until I can get the power back on, so I reluctantly agreed. She cheered and ran circles around me before leaping onto my back to hang weightlessly from my shoulders.
I carried her with me as I began to explore. The motion scanner in my helmet was malfunctioning, so if there was anything nearby I'd have to keep a sharp ear out. The child began to hum as I made my way upward through a terminal room. What I found on the top floor was a locked door to a metal container. I examined the console to find that it was inactive, and there was more than one container. I peered inside the viewport, and what I saw horrified me beyond words… it was another child, but older and looked almost scarily similar to me. She was in cryosleep. I looked in a few more, and the same thing was inside each at varying ages. This confirmed it. This facility was closing me… but why? Furthermore, if they wanted to clone me, why weren't they training them for combat? To make so many clones would be pointless if they were for less than ethical domestic purposes.
"My sisters are still sleeping… mommy, when will they wake up?" the child asked me. I came up with a clever lie, telling her that when the power is restored there's a chance they'll wake up. I didn't know for sure, and it made her happy, so it was a win-win.
My actual intention once the power comes on would be to repair my ship… and then blow this planet to hell. This was a Federation project, and after this it'd be time to put an end to those sick bastards at the top brass. All I'd need is to get someone to believe their project was actually here… and the proof hanging from my shoulders. As long as at least one survives, I will be able to prove that they were illegally cloning me. I'd just have to keep playing the part of "mommy" for now.
In the Sector B-5 corridor connecting to C-5, the facility shook violently. I looked all around and almost fell over as the child fell off my back. Once the shaking stopped alarms began going off. I couldn't figure out what had happened.
"Spiky down in B-2 is being rowdy again. Are you gonna teach him a lesson again, mommy?" the child asked me with a beaming smile. She was obviously expecting a yes, so I hadn't a choice but to cooperate. It seemed that the replica kept a very strict leash of control over this facility's inhabitants.
So it was time to descend through Sector B to reach the second level where this "Spiky" character was misbehaving. On the way down I finally encountered something dangerous. Horrendous monstrosities that are likely wildlife of the planet that escaped into the facility during the power outage. I was forced to defend myself, and the child, from them with my cannon and my rockets. Soon I came to a door that required a cannon to open. I inserted mine, and it began to scan. The computer rejected it and read "Paging Warden" on the screen. I then heard the footsteps of my replica. I hid inside of a large box nearby and told the child to be quiet.
My copy then stomped up to the door and looked left and right as if scanning the perimeter. It then inserted its cannon and made the door open. It went inside, but the door remained open. I waited a good five minutes before going through the door. The child was pulling herself up higher on my back. Was she looking around?
"I've never been in this area before. That big bully usually shoots at me trying to make me run away." the child told me. This told me the Warden isn't who I thought they were. Could there be more than one copy of my suit running around?
Around the area there were signs of explosives going off. Then I heard groaning and a can was kicked from behind a machine. I took aim and waited for whatever was making the sound. A clone still in her Zero Suit walked into view with an almost zombified demeanor. She had a dead tired face, and almost looked as if she'd been abused. Then the Warden leapt down from above slamming their elbow into the back of her head knocking her to the floor groaning in pain. The Warden then aimed their arm cannon at her stomping on her lower spine making her shout in pain.
"SA-226781, what are you doing outside of containment?" the Warden interrogated in a modified deep voice, but she only groaned trying to crawl away in futility.
"Answer me!" the Warden barked yanking back on her hair making her cry out in agony.
"One of my sisters is awake…" the child spoke drawing the Warden's attention to us. Given our first encounter, something told me they wouldn't be too happy to see me again. The helmet's visor was glowing a bit, and I knew that meant they were scanning us.
"SAJ-1 and the interloper… I knew it was too much to hope that fall would kill you." the Warden sighed aiming their arm cannon.
I addressed the Warden coldly, pointing out how only now that we met a second time they're speaking. Then I pointed out that I've survived worse falls than that. The Warden only seemed to be angered by it. So I got to the point, and asked exactly why the Federation was cloning me.
"Then you are the Omega, one who is the reason we exist. You are not supposed to know of this facility. These clones are meant for keeping peace as the ultimate army, but a malfunction in genetics lead to a viral breakout that made all SA's with serial numbers higher than 229000 to become homicidal toward the scientists forcing me to eliminate them and quarantine the uninfected to cryosleep." the Warden explained. That meant that the clone there was simply recovering from a long slumber. At that moment the clone's eyes began to turn red. She growled like an animal and began to wriggle violently trying to get free. The Warden simply stared at her and blasted her head reducing it to dust as her body flailed its last. I asked if they went homicidal like that, and the Warden nodded. I had to know why the child seemed to be immune to the effects after that.
"SAJ-1… the first of an entirely new strain of Omega copies. I have scanned her numerous times. Her DNA pattern defects from the clones, but yet the database states that she is to remain unharmed. She is also notably the only one who did not exhibit any homicidal tendencies toward her handlers." the Warden explained to me. I then asked if the Warden too was just a clone of me.
"My serial is SA-12, designation 'Warden'. My duty is lawful management of fellow clones. Their safety is my top concern." the Warden replied.
"You say that, but all you've done is keep people from coming." the child argued.
"The virus has of yet to be sterilized, and thus this facility remains under quarantine. Until it passes or is dealt with, they will remain in cryosleep and I shall stay as their guardian." the Warden shot back. I then asked how one would go about sterilizing it.
"Sterilizing the virus was only possible while there were scientists who escaped the homicidal clones. The last perished when the virus infected them and forced them to fight among themselves. The Science Wing is the zone with the highest contamination level so I hardwired the system so that only I can open the door going inside." the Warden explained. I asked what wing we were currently in.
"We are in the Bio Habitat Wing, where many extinct animals were bioengineered from the destruction and reconditioned for planetary reintroduction. Since the contamination, most have mutated or become vicious in nature." the Warden replied to my question, and then we noticed the child swinging from a pipe.
"Don't hang from that!" the Warden scolded, and at the same moment the pipe broke making the child fall to the floor landing on her butt. Seconds after a strange mist began leaking from them prompting the Warden to grab her and pull her back as red liquid began pouring out. Alarms began to sound as sounds of animals started going rampant.
"Foolish child! That was the Sedation Fluid Line! Go, now!" the Warden ordered, and I took the child fleeing the area. More and more alarms seemed to be going off as sounds of the Warden's cannon fired in the distance. We entered a door that locked behind us, and then took the opportunity to catch our breath. The room we were in held horrors beyond my wildest nightmares…
End Chapter 1