In their way, the three etecoons, both Dachoras, and even Adam, each complained of the heat, beseeching Samus to set the temperature in the ship just a few degrees lower. They would have preferred twenty degrees, but knew Samus wouldn't go for that. Even now at fifty degrees Celsius, she was in the corner, wrapped in a blanket, and shivering. Adam had tried to reason with her earlier, tried to explain that it wasn't healthy for the animals or herself to be under this much heat for a prolonged amount of time. She hadn't listened and when he'd turned it back down to thirty himself, she'd overridden him. He was now locked out of the rest of the systems and could do nothing but watch and continue to try to reason with her. The animals whimpered and screeched, perhaps trying to invoke a response on an emotional level, but Samus couldn't hear anything anymore besides the blood pumping in her ears. And even if she could have heard, her mind was completely consumed with one thought.
She was hungry.
Oh God, she was hungry. More than she'd ever been in her life, she was hungry. She had gone days without eating before. As a child on K2-L after the pirate attack, many more times since she'd begun her bounty hunting career, but never like this. Her stomach was in agony, but it wasn't limited to that. Her eyes felt hungry. Her hands felt hungry. Her entire body was hungry and in absolute, unbearable agony. She'd tried to eat some of her stores, standard freeze-dried crap. Typically, she didn't enjoy the food but it did what it was supposed to and got her full. Lately, though, it hadn't been working. Now it did nothing at all. Yesterday she'd tried one of the steaks she usually saved for special occasions, cooked it, and devoured it while it was still hot. It had done better but not enough. This morning she'd had the other two and not bothered to cook them. Had them bloody and raw. They had tasted good and actually satisfied her… but she hadn't been able to keep them down. Her eyes had been bigger than her stomach. Now she felt like she was literally starving to death. She needed food. Meat. But she was out of all of her real food and still days out from her destination. The only meat on the ship was herself and….
She stood up and began to pace.
No, no, no. Not the etecoons. Ah, but the thought had crossed her mind and even though it was in the form of a denial, it was out there and couldn't be taken back. The etecoons. They were too furry, she tried to argue, too much hair. But that was the wrong kind of argument and she knew it immediately. They were her pets, thinking, feeling creatures. She couldn't do it. No, she should just eat the freeze-dried food and deal with her problem. But her problem would only get worse and who knew what would happen to her if she didn't eat something soon? No, no. Besides, the Dachora had a child. It would be cruel to leave an orphan, but eating the child as well would be too much. And there were three etecoons. She didn't need more than two of anything. They wouldn't taste very good, probably. She told herself they would taste horrible. But again, this was the wrong kind of argument and she knew she'd eaten worse before.
She risked a glance over at them then quickly looked back at her feet.
The one on the right was plump.
Gah. She could beat this. She'd felt the urges of the Metroid DNA in her before and recognized them in time to defeat them. She was strong enough. Her will was strong enough. She was still herself. The human and Chozo blood in her was stronger than that of the Metroid. She sat back down and tried to meditate, reciting some Chozoan sutras. She tried to find enlightenment. But when she closed her eyes, she saw an etecoon on a plate with an apple in its mouth. She shook it off. Peace. Tranquility. The order of the universe. Peace. Tranquility. Delicious, succulent, flesh, gorging herself on magnificent hot bloody meat—
She stood up and threw the blanket off. This was nonsense. A trick of her mind. No, her body was changing. It had new needs. No, her mind just thought it had new needs. She was still human. Or at least a third of her was. She was just as much human as she was anything else. And humans didn't need to eat other animals. They did for thousands of years of their history. But not now. No, now she could eat some delicious vegetables and be happy. Happy with vegetables.
Samus went over to her food cooler and opened the door. The cold hurt her hand, but she reached in anyway and pulled out a bag of celery, then slammed the door back shut. Yes, delicious, wonderful, celery. Nutritious. Just what she needed. She grabbed a handful and began to eat it ravenously. It tasted horrible but she would eat this and be happy. She grabbed another handful and stuffed it in to her mouth. Mmmm mmm. She could eat this, and make to civilization, and they would figure out something for her.
Fuck!
Her tongue. Oh, damn it. She'd bitten down too hard and caught her tongue. Oh fuck that hurt. She was bleeding. She could taste it running down her throat and in to her stomach and…
She dropped the bag of celery.
No. No. She would not eat the etecoons. Just one. No, none of them. She would lock herself in her room until she reached her destination then she would have someone slaughter a cow for her. And then she'd…
—But he was plump. And he was here now.
She looked at the etecoon again, the nice, round one. She opened her mouth to say, "no" but instead closed it quickly, clicking her teeth. The blood was still running down her throat and it felt and tasted so good. What a horrible thought to have. But she had thought it. She needed meat. That was who she was now and she couldn't deny it any more. She had Metroid DNA and with it came Metroid weaknesses. She didn't like cold any more. The current temperature proved that. But she also had Metroid hunger. A hunger for living things. This was who she was now and she should get used to it.
Just one.
Just one.
She beckoned for the etecoons to come over as she smiled, painfully. At first they were happy, thinking she'd finally come to her senses, but then they became less sure. Maybe they saw something in her actions, maybe they just felt something wasn't right. But they stopped a short distance away and began quivering. Samus grew angry.
"Get over here right now!" she yelled, stamping her foot.
With that, they began to scream and run around, panicked. Samus lost all patience. She saw the plump one running toward the wall and gave chase. He changed directions, but she was right behind him. He faked to his left and cut back to his right and Samus was fooled, but recovered quickly.
"Stop running, you little shit, and come here!"
He didn't stop running, though, and Samus finally trapped him as she got him to run straight in to the corner. Then as he reached it, he jumped and pushed himself off the wall, flying over her head. She turned her head, watching him, and forgot about the wall in front of her. She crashed into it at full speed and fell down. She was up immediately, rubbing her sore head and chasing after the plump etecoon with renewed vigor. Several times he tried to lose her, but the room was small and again she cornered him. He tried to launch himself over her head a second time, but she was ready and caught him by the neck while he was in the air. She slammed him in to the floor, and stuck her knee in his chest. He began to whimper, pitifully, and Samus began to pet him to calm him down.
"Shh, shhh," she said even as the hand around his neck began to shake with anticipation. "There's nothing to be afraid of."
She squeezed with all of her might and then ripped open the front of his throat. Blood began to shoot out of his arteries and greedily she brought her mouth down to the wound, drinking it as quickly as she could. She was sickened as her mind realized what she had just done and was doing, but the energy from his blood was exactly what her body needed and wouldn't allow her to pull herself away. The blood stopped pumping shortly and she grabbed on to one of his legs and hung him upside down, keeping her mouth on the wound she'd opened. Now the fluids weren't just limited to blood and she began to cry as her stomach filled with the etecoon's various internal juices. It had been her pet. Her friend. What had she done? She could hear the other two etecoons and Dachora mother screaming in grief and fear, but still she couldn't stop. She wanted to, but she wanted more than anything to quench her hunger.
She continued to drink until her stomach would hold no more, but still, she couldn't pull away. She gorged until she felt something coming back up her throat and she began to vomit. She spewed most of what she'd swallowed back on to the floor and felt the impulse to try to lick it up, but now the hunger had been sated enough that she could resist. She dropped the etecoon, plump no more, and began to walk towards her personal room.
"Adam," she said numbly.
"Yes, Lady," he responded, the tone of his voice no different than usual. Why would it be?
"Adam, I've done a bad thing."
"Yes, Lady."
"How far are we from Delson VIII?"
"Approximately seventy-nine hours, Lady."
"I need you to help me," she said as she went to her room and shut the door, "I'm going to get hungry again and I won't be able to control myself. I need you to take control of all aspects of the ship until we reach our destination. I'm giving you a permanent order that cannot be superseded by anyone, including myself. Lock the door and do not let me out until we get there. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Lady."
"This is an order. Can you do that for me?"
Adam hesitated in his response.
"What will you do when we reach Delson VIII?"
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Lady, when we reach our destination, you're likely to be in a state of delirium far worse than the one you were in just a moment ago. You may not be in a state of mind that would be safe for the remaining animals or whoever else might be nearby. Do you still wish for me to make it my primary command to return control of the ship to you when we get there?"
"No. You're right, that's not a very good idea."
"Then shall I keep control of the ship and inform the authorities of your condition when we arrive?"
"Somehow," she said, "I doubt they'd have my best interests in mind if they found out what was happening to me. Federals aren't known for being compassionate, just curious." Samus sat down on her bed and thought for a few seconds. Her reason was slowly returning again. "Does the escape pod on this ship still work?"
"Yes, Lady."
"Then it's the only option I have. I can't be around people, not like this. I have to go."
"To where, Lady?"
"Anywhere," she answered immediately, "Anywhere but somewhere."
Samus stood up and tried to open the door.
"Adam, open the door so I can get to the escape pod."
"I'm sorry, Lady, I can't let you do that. Please just sit back down and do your best to relax until we reach Delson VIII. The Federation will take good care of you."