Together

Disclaimer: In case you haven't figured it out yet, I don't own Metroid: Other M. All Metroid-related characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of Makoto Kano and Nintendo.

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Deep down, she knew well that there had never been such a person as Melissa Bergman.

Like her Zebesian progenitor, MB's self-awareness was an intrinsic part of her programming. From the very day of her activation, she had been completely alert to the fact that she was merely an artificial intelligence housed in an android shell, designed roughly to mimic the facial features and physical dimensions of bounty hunter Samus Aran. It had been the ideal way for her to interface with the cloned Metroids; all the telepathic reach of Mother Brain, coupled with a body specifically engineered to duplicate the Hunter's unprecedented relationship with the original infant…or as they typically referred to it here, Subject-0.

But over the months that followed, it became easy to forget. Initially the entire research team had regarded her quite fondly, evidently finding it more agreeable to deal with a computer that imitated their form than one that existed simply as binary code upon a pixilated screen. Several of the researchers, particularly those of the younger set, even interacted with her on what could potentially be called a "personal" level on occasion; playing chess, telling jokes, and in one particular lab assistant's case, asking her to join him for a private dinner in his quarters. MB did not eat, of course, but the evening's conversations had been quite enjoyable, and MB had been somewhat displeased to learn that the young man had been terminated from his position the very next day.

And then…then, there was Madeline.

Madeline Bergman was special, and her relationship with MB doubly so. It had been Madeline who had told MB that her initials stood for Melissa Bergman – a lie, to be sure, but one that MB was more-than-willing to buy into – and who had given the android the one piece of personal accouterment that she was permitted to wear inside the laboratories. The small hairpin was, for all practical purposes, strictly unnecessary (the fibrous material that simulated the Hunter's blonde tresses was kept in place by static electricity, and did not fall out of order as normal human hair did), but MB would not part with it. It was a reminder that at least one individual on the Bottle Ship thought of her as more than just a sophisticated program to keep their Special Forces in check, but as Melissa Bergman…a person.

At least, that was what MB had led herself to believe. As her interactions with Madeline and with the infant Metroids had both naturally progressed, they had begun to mirror each other in ways that MB found surprising – the underlying mechanics, after all, were incredibly similar. One individual cared for and nurtured another, providing it with encouragement and guidance so that it might grow stronger and more capable of fulfilling its function…and the receiving individual responded with affection and admiration.

This was certainly true of the Metroids, which cooed and squealed with delight in MB's presence even as they violently attacked any other creature that came anywhere within even the remotest vicinity of their breeding grounds in Sector Zero. Like Subject-0 had legendarily been of the Hunter, its clones were fiercely protective of MB, swirling around her head when idle and preventing other researchers from coming into direct contact with her unless she specifically ordered them to back down. And slowly but surely, MB had felt this very same instinct welling up inside her with regards to Madeline. She still remembered the maintenance worker who had ignored Madeline's pleas not to touch her posterior in a manner that humans typically deemed highly inappropriate. That worker now had three functioning fingers.

Instincts…that was where this whole affair had started. As MB had slowly developed the urge to protect and foster the young Metroids, she had simultaneously developed the desire to be protected and fostered by Madeline. She had evolved, far beyond her original parameters, into a being capable of feeling the euphoric sensation that humans called "love."

MB loved the Metroids, and the Metroids loved her back in equal measures; with her direct link into their central nervous systems, this was incredibly easy to verify. So it would seem natural, would it not, to assume that her love for Madeline would likewise be returned? The way that the older woman smiled and laughed along with the android upon whom she had conferred her own appellation was proof! As were the compliments on her physical appearance…and the stories she had been told prior to entering her regular recharge cycles…and the tight embraces, flesh squeezing against steel and apparently not caring for the apparent discomfort, if only so that MB could experience the exhilarating sensation of being held…

But alas, no…it was all a lie. MB had discovered that incontrovertible fact on the day that high command decided that her ability to make independent decisions – to feel those very sensations that brought her so much joy – was non-conducive to the continued success of their mission, and that she would require extensive reprogramming. To once again become a cold, unfeeling machine…a stream of electrons passing through wires and circuits at light-speed, and nothing more…that notion was unbearable. She would not lose the bonds she had formed through her brief flirtation with what could only be described as a soul.

She would not lose the chance to be a mother.

And yet her own mother, insofar as she had one at all, had shown her true colors that day. "Madeline!" she had cried, struggling violently against the iron grips of the Federation representatives sent to restrain her. But the only reaction she garnered from the red-haired woman was silence.

"N…No! W…What's happening?" she had screamed in a panic. Once again, silence.

And the last term, she had merely whispered, though she knew Madeline was close enough to hear her. "Please…please help me…mom…" she had murmured, her eyes pleading with the uncaring development director to understand.

The silence that answered that final appeal had broken MB's nascent heart in two.

It was in that moment that MB took matters into her own metallic hands. The three men she tossed to the side found their necks cracked or skulls shattered by sheer force of impact, but that was of no concern to MB. Within a few seconds, her psionic signal forced every single Zebesian on the entire ship to turn against their creators, wiping out scores of researchers with each passing moment.

The humans had refused to allow her to be part of their world – to be Melissa Bergman, in mind, body, and spirit. So instead, she would be precisely what they had designed her to be. She would be Mother Brain, and execute the orders that her predecessor would doubtless have applied in this situation. In that way the humans – all the humans – would pay for their foolishness, and for their arrogance. They had wanted a Special Forces unit intended to mimic the command structure of the Space Pirates…and that was exactly what they were going to get.

Oh, there turned out to be snags, to be sure. Her armies overran the Bottle Ship within hours, and slaughtered virtually the entire staff within days (with the exception of Madeline, whom MB would deal with…personally), but somehow someone managed to send out a high-priority distress signal throughout their entire sector, which had attracted quite a bit of unwanted attention to her operations.

The small battalion of Federation Troopers had been of no great concern – already they were falling prey both to the vicious Zebesian fauna and to one of their own members, who was systematically exterminating his fellows in an apparent effort to keep them quiet about the secrets of the covert facility. Said traitor, identified by her facial recognition programs as communications officer James Pierce, was no longer a factor either; his foolhardy attempt to eliminate her had made sure of that.

No, the true threat here was Samus Aran. Against all odds the Hunter herself had managed to be in the vicinity at the moment that the signal was released, and had since been engaging in her usual role of one-woman-army. Having been based in various physical and psychological respects on the stoic blonde, MB was possessed of a great amount of data with regards to the Hunter's propensity for blowing up planets and asking questions later. Undoubtedly, she could not be allowed free reign around the Bottle Ship for much longer, if MB's ultimate plans for the station were to come to fruition.

Her solution for dealing with the dangerous outsider was, she thought, quite elegant; by impersonating Madeline and gaining Samus Aran's trust, she had managed to convince her that heading into Sector Zero was the only way to stop the Space Pirates' full resurrection. She had not even needed to lie about the situation, apart from leading the Hunter to believe that "MB" was located in the reproduction of Tourian…Samus Aran's instinct to play the hero was so strong that it would lead her to dive straight into a literal minefield of unfreezable Metroids, if she thought that the galaxy's safety would be improved. In her weaker moments, MB might have found this steadfast determination admirable…but now it simply served to make the human woman easier to manipulate.

MB would not even by required to get her steel hands dirty this way – fortunate, since she doubted very much that she would emerge victorious in a one-on-one confrontation with the armored Hunter. No, her babies would do all the work, sucking their would-be exterminator dry until only a withered husk remained. In the name of protecting their Mother and her mission, they would do absolutely anything.

But then, General Adam Malkovich had ruined everything…not only preventing Samus Aran from entering Sector Zero, but going inside and detonating the breeding chambers himself, massacring MB's children in the process. Their thousand-strong squeals of horror, transmitted to her via the telepathic connection she maintained with each creature, served only to further stoke the fires of vengeance within her artificial heart. The entire Galactic Federation would soon pay for their species' crimes, but the Hunter would die first.

MB's original infant, known as Subject-1 and now fully evolved to the level of a Queen, would make sure of that. It had, after all, already taken care of the other loose end on the Bottle Ship – Ridley, whose surprise revival had been neither intended nor welcome, given his independent nature and natural resistance to her psionic control. Samus Aran would doubtless prove to be a more formidable opponent than the weakened dragon, but not by much. Within the hour, MB and Madeline would once again be the only humanoid beings aboard the station.

And so, as MB picked up James Pierce's fallen freeze pistol and headed off to the facility where her Queen had already informed her that Madeline Bergman was now located, the android performed the action that humans called "laughter," her voice echoing low and cold. It was finally time to confront the woman who had bestowed upon her a human moniker, so that she might gain closure before the Bottle Ship struck the Federation capitol, killing everyone both aboard and below the station in a magnificent storm of flame and twisted metal.

The strange part of the matter was that, despite her heart-wrenching callousness, MB could not hate Madeline. The illogicality of this notion was the main driving force behind the android's desire to see the red-headed development director, for while it thoroughly confused the analytical side of her artificial brain, MB was at least certain of its ultimate ramifications. Even in the face of her stinging betrayal, MB desired to have her mother and her children close by in her last moments, forming one big family…the one thing that she had ever really desired in this semblance of life.

Mother, child, and grandchildren…in their final seconds within the physical world, MB would unite them all, eliminating any and all foolish enough to stand in her way.

That way, for the first and last time, MB would bring together everyone she loved, and she would finally affirm the worth of the soul that the Galactic Federation had deemed her unworthy to possess.

Together…yes, MB liked the sound of that.

Together…forever…