The author stretched ad settled down at the kitchen table, intent on writing the next chapter of Yttria. Hooray, it's chapter two time! Wondering what's going to happen with the Chozo Ghost? So am I! You people do realize I make these things up as I go, right?. Deciding that most everyone would just skip this part over, he went ahead to start the real story.

The Ghost flew into me at a breakneck speed, and I was catapulted back as if hit by a car. I landed on the ground a few yards away, dimly aware of the insane amount of luck needed to make me miss every single tree that could have been in my way. This was eclipsed, however, by the Ghost. I could feel it occupying the same space as my body, the intense cold that seemed to radiate from my very core but was really coming from the Phazon-altered alien. It dulled my muscles, clouded my mind, and glazed my eyes the longer it was there. Then, suddenly, inexplicably...it was gone. I felt relieved, but at the same time anxious that it would be back. The feeling slowly came back to my limbs, more specifically the feeling of hitting the ground.

I groaned in pain and lifted my head some, looking around for the Chozo Ghost. I couldn't see it anywhere, but of course that didn't mean anything. I struggled to my feet and staggered off into the woods. The only reason that I didn't head back to the beach was I did not want to be near water - easily frozen water - should the spirit show up again. The pain quickly faded and soon I was running, pushing foliage out of my face as I struggled deeper into the untamed wild of the island - an island I was sure wasn't here yesterday. Maybe Samus' coming back in time had more serious repercussions than I thought. I stumbled over a root but regained my footing, slowing to a jog as the foliage grew thicker. It almost seemed like a barrier, deterring me from traveling further inland. To distract myself from this somewhat disturbing thought I started naming all the different plants I could see.

A pine tree I saw off to my left, and to my right a cluster of maple trees. Next to the maple trees was a couple of oak trees, and across from them was...a banana tree? I furrowed my brow and slowed, letting my eyes wander to a bush situated at the base of the out-of-place tree. Blueberries? Stopping entirely, I turned in a full circle and studied everything more closely. I saw vines creeping up a field of bamboo growing off the the side, patches of mint leaves dotted around gum trees, sugarcane growing in between mango trees...this was a very strange island. These kinds of plants never grew in Canada's climate, and if they did they didn't survive long. I slowly started walking again, taking note of every should-be-dead plant as I went along and feeling proud of myself for doing so...until I reached the cyrlic tree. Then all thought process stopped.

There, standing in front of me proudly, was a tree bio-engineered by the Chozo to provide natural platforms. Judging by the height and thickness of the thing it had been here a very long time, and it looked healthy and cared for. There was probably a nutrient storage box buried underground that the roots had penetrated, but that wasn't the point. If this island had been here before, somebody would have discovered this artificial plant, along with the hodge-podge of Earth plants, and wondered where they had come from. There would have been huge press coverage. But there wasn't. No word got out, and nobody was informed. This left me with three viable possibilities: One, the government had covered it up, two, nobody had discovered it, or three...this island wasn't here until recently. I found number two highly unlikely because, being on the coast, Vancouver was very big on boats, and number one was out because the cyrlic tree would have had samples taken from it. That left possibility three, the island wasn't here until recently.

That one solved question raised so many more. For one, how? How could you hide an entire island until a certain time? And why did it's appearance coincide with Samus' arrival in this time period? It could have been a coincidence, but I didn't think so. Also, why all the different plants in one place? Was it like a seed vault, a place to store samples of plants in the event of planetary disaster? Or was it a source of food?

I decided to explore the rest of the island in the hopes of finding some answers. I moved around the cyrlic tree and caught sight of more alien flora. Blueroot trees from Aether. The glowing fungi called saturnine, beautiful Red Starburst flowers, and bio-engineered sandgrass from Tallon IV. Kashh plants and spaikk bushes from Bryyo. And these were just the plants I could name. I realized I didn't know if the ferns I pushed out of my face on the way here were from Earth or Tallon IV. Eventually the field of plants - for that's what I eventually recognized it as, an organized field - came to an end, and I was left walking along a seemingly well-worn path that evidently led to something. Well obviously it leads to something., said a snarky voice in my head, and I thought back testily, Well excuuuuse me for doubting the conceptual elasticity of space-time on an alien-influenced island. The voice didn't answer, and I smirked.

I came upon a fork in the path, and the only problem I could see was that the sign was written in Tallonian Chozo scripture, which was more or less claw marks to me. I resorted to letting the powers-that-be-or-not-be (What was the question again?) choose my path for me, squatting down to look at a flower on the path-side. I pointed at the petals as I said 'left' and 'right', and thirteen petals later I landed on 'left'. "I'm cured! And as soon as Doctor Jacobs gets back from walking into the unexplored part of that dark forest with his not-fully-charged flashlight, you will be too!", I muttered in mock glee, glancing around uneasily. I still expected that Chozo Ghost to come back at any second. The Ghost isn't gonna come back., that voice in my head said in a dismissive tone, and I thought in a deadpan tone, Oh look. It's you. Yaaaaay... At least he...she...it distracted me from my apprehension.

I soon came upon a building in a clearing. It looked like a structure one might find in the Chozo Ruins on Tallon IV, and I suspected that there was more underground. There was another sign in Tallonian Chozo over the door. As I approached the building slowly my eyes scanned the area around it for movement, but everything was dark. I glanced up at the comet, still heading for Earth, then down at my watch. Yes, I still wore a watch, and look how handy it came in. I squinted, unable to see the hands very well in the dim light, and was finally able to ascertain the time was six thirty-ish. I remembered my phone said it was six twenty-five when I made the call to mom, so...I'd only been on the island for five minutes? Time must have been messed up, because there's no way everything that's happened happened in five minutes. I shook my head in disbelief and, glancing up at the Leviathan again, threw a rock at the energy shield over the door and slipped inside.

It was very dark, first of all, darker than outside. I could only make out some weird, shadowy shapes, and I very much doubted they'd turn out to be sofas and coffee tables, so I made finding light my first priority. First I tried clapping my hands...didn't work. Then I tried touching the wall...no dice. I also tried yelling out, "Light!", at the ceiling, but that didn't work either. "You'd think the Chozo would make the lights universally accessible.", I grumbled, and the voice asked, You would, wouldn't you? Why don't you try the Chozo word for 'light'? I rolled my eyes and told it, If you happen to know the Chozo word for 'light', I'd love to hear it. It immediately came up with 'Luz', and as soon as I repeated it the lights flashed on. How did you know that!?, I thought to the voice in surprise, and it replied, All in due time. Now, on the ...table thing over that way, there should be a pair of glasses. Put them on.

My eyes were drawn to a circular piece of intricately carved furniture lying on the ground. The carved lines suddenly lit up with a blue light, and the 'table' slowly rose up into the air. "Table indeed.", I muttered lowly, crossing over to it and moving papers out of the way. There was, in fact, a pair of sleek glasses on the table, and I picked them up curiously. They looked like modern day sunglasses, those tinted ones with curved edges, and as I put them on I felt a little nub protruding from the top. I flicked it to the right, and suddenly everything was outlined in green. I looked at the floating table and a steady stream of words flowed across the lenses. "Mandus Table,", it said, ",a floating, intricately carved table made by the finest Chozo craftsmen.". I flicked my gaze up to look at the lights, and the text changed to, "An advanced lighting system, derived from primitive LED lights. System is voice controlled.". I took the glasses off in reverence, examining them from all angles as I breathed in wonder, "Wow...a self-contained, removable Scan Visor. Built into a pair of human sunglasses! These could come in very handy...", before slipping them back on. I went back outside and scanned the sign over the door. "Bio Labs.", the Visor told me, and the words sent a coil of fear into my stomach. Bio Labs usually mean Metroids, don't they?, I asked myself, but the Voice reassured me, Don't worry, no Metroids here. No need for them., and I sighed in relief. I stepped through the door again, looking around curiously.

"So if there aren't any Metroids, what's this facility for?", I asked myself, walking again to the Mandus table. I picked one of the papers up and scanned it. "The efforts to recover our Phazon-afflicted friends' personality and memories is progressing slowly. Too slowly. The Great Poison is spreading by the day, the Worm growing by the hour. The poison is slowly creeping into both my dreams and, bit by bit, the dreams of others. ...We are running out of time.", said the glasses, and below that was another entry, extremely short, that said, "Time, the constraint that all but the Time Lords must abide by. Time, the ultimate challenge. I have decided that time will be my next project.", and below that was a mass of numbers, calculations, and mathematical symbols. I set the paper down and picked up another, sitting down in a relatively normal chair to read.

"My studies on time have progressed much more quickly than those on recovering our lost kin. I have, on a strange planet called Ununtrum, discovered a creature that generates a peculiar form of energy. This energy, when utilized correctly, accelerates time in a self-contained bubble around the one the energy is radiating from. I have decided to call it Shinespark energy, because when in use the energy shines around the creature and allows it to travel as fast as a spark. I've isolated the crystalline organ that produces this energy and was able to successfully extract and integrate it into a 'Shinespark Module'. I will be submitting this module for inclusion in the Power Suit as soon as I have completed this report.".

"So that's where the Shinespark came from, huh?", I mumbled, retrieving another report that said, "It has been approximately one month since my report on the Shinespark module, and it is the Shinespark module I now report on. Since producing another one several weeks ago, I have noticed that the crystals radiate energy on the same frequency, and by using a tool resembling a tuning fork, I can change this frequency. The effects I have been able to persistently replicate are promising. Slowing down time for the user, useful in preventing injury from long falls. Speeding up time even more than usual, so much that everyone around the one affected by the module seem frozen. And, perhaps, the one most intriguing, reversing time."

"Yes, by reversing the polarity of the Shinespark crystal I was able to rewind time for myself about a day. I think this is exactly the thing we've been looking for, because all efforts on stopping the Great Poison has failed. I have a theory that, using an augmented cluster of Shinespark crystals I have already begun working on, we could send an advanced science facility back in time. If we spread conductive rods through the ground the facility rests on, we could send an entire island back, which would allow us to plant fields for food. We would have all the time we'd need to puzzle out the problem plaguing our world. The only problem is, going back in time does not rewind the body. If we go back in time there would be no guarantee we would find an answer before we pass on. I will seek approval from the Council tomorrow, both because I am not sure the Cluster will work and because it is very late, and I am tired.".

I set the paper down and sifted through the others. They were all just mathematical equations, so I leaned back in the chair and tried to think through the information I already had. "So the Leviathan's already crashed, the Phazon is spreading, Metroid Prime is getting stronger, the Chozo are being turned into Ghosts, and there's no time to figure out how to stop, or better yet, reverse it. Then a Chozo scientist discovers the time-altering properties of this Shinespark crystal and devises a way to bring a research facility back in time, giving the researchers the time they need to puzzle out how to reverse the Phazon corruption of the other Chozo. They realize that if they built the facility on Tallon IV, it would still be there, and so find a primitive planet to work undisturbed on. That planet being ancient Earth. They send the facility back in time a few decades and start studying, but if the Chozo Ghost I saw on the way in is any indication they didn't find out anything useful, so the Tallonian Chozo are doomed and the events of Metroid Prime happen as told.", I summarized, then frowned and asked, "But then... why is this place still here? Why couldn't humans see it before? And why did it appear when Samus did?". I leafed through the papers once again, just to be safe, but found nothing more.

I slowly turned my head to regard the door on the other side of the table warily. It lead deeper into the facility, and I was sure there would be important stuff down there, but if there's anything Metroid Prime taught me it's that scientific facilities were bad. No offense to the sea-dwelling creatures, but I always hated venturing into Research Lab Hydra. Besides, I didn't have a weapon and there could be more Ghosts down there. They needed something to test their theoretical cures on, right? Right., the Voice agreed, And counting on a specimen escaping, they included backup weapons when they built this place. Say senjata. I don't know why, but I did what the Voice told me to, and a panel in the floor popped open. I stood up and walked over to it, crouching to pick up a mini arm cannon. I slipped it on my right arm, it coming up to my mid-forearm, and it activated, parts of the case bulging to show the red interior of the weapon. "Plasma Cannon. Nice.", I commented, then reluctantly slipped it off and put it back. I rooted around in the weapons cache a little more before pulling out another mini arm cannon, one that stayed the shape it was when I slipped it on. "Power Beam. The only weapon that can hurt Chozo Ghosts.", I said with a smirk before firing a shot at the door and walking deeper into the facility.