I had two possible escape routes. One, the much shorter one, connected the Phazon Mines to Phendrana Drifts through Magmoor Caverns. Although it was short, it also led through a larger number of the Others' strongholds. The second, longer path wound through the Chozo Ruins and more than half the length of Phendrana Drifts. I decided to take this second path, theorizing that the Others would believe the Hunter would take the shortest path to her suit.

I entered a long shaftway, a sort of vent I suppose, pulling myself up the walls with my fighting arm and finding footholds in the space between metal sheets. Energy creatures buzzed around my head, giving off a scent somewhere between hydrocarbons and lightning. I let them wander at will, since they seemed to take no notice of me, but I certainly did not want any of them to touch me.

Once up at the top, I raced through a gas-filled room that hurt my eyes and made me choke. The spiky gas creatures that floated above me gave off more of this noxious substance and I scrambled to get out of the room, slipping slightly as I climbed up the sheer, curved metal wall and into the next room. It had been created as a passive security system to keep the Hunter and other creatures out, and reminded me that my task would get much harder once the Others realized she had escaped. Fear once again presented itself at the idea of my being hunted, and to tamp it down I focused on the task at hand. I paused only briefly to work free the bit of shrapnel that had embedded itself in my leg joint, for it pained me and impeded my progress.

After many side-doors, forgotten passageways, and natural rock cracks, I found myself at the top of the Mines, the crane that had transported out the first shipments of Phazon standing idle. I could see and hear some of the others milling about, their bodies and voices relaxed. I reasoned that if I carefully climbed over to the crane and used the stairway to get to the ground, I could get out of there without them seeing me.

I inched my way along the cliff top, staying out of the visual range of the Others and taking great care not to drop Samus. When I was about halfway across a shrieking call pierced the air and I froze. The idle Others suddenly rose to their feet or used their jet packs to get to the small control center in the crane. I could hear shrieks of rage echo throughout the quarry. Samus' absence had been discovered.

I was just debating whether I should climb down to the ground and make a run for it when I heard the roar of engines behind me and one of the Others flew just above my face. "Identify yourself!"

I dispatched it with a salvo of missiles. The noise and commotion brought the rest of them upon us, shrieking and firing their weapons. I do not know if they understood what I was carrying; they may have merely come after me for shooting one of them, a capital offence in itself. Crawling closer to the top of the rock formations, I fired at the flying ones, keeping the stone between me and the shots of those on the ground.

I reached one of the high walkways and jumped upon it, running toward the crane. I slashed at a flying attacker and it swerved too fast out of the way, losing control and hitting a container of explosives on the ground. The container ruptured and the subsequent explosion killed the Others on the ground, while I dispatched the last one with a missile.

I entered the crane's control station and discovered that I could access the logs, meaning that the Others had not yet determined correctly how the Hunter had been freed. I skimmed over the bulletin that had antagonized the Others in the quarry and made an entry of my own:

Hunter sighted in quarry near entrance of Phazon Mines. Subject eliminated numerous soldiers and then returned to the Mines.

Doubtless the Others would wonder why she would go back the way she came, but it would buy us some time as they would not question the reports. Not until they realized it had been written by one with an I, that is. After that, I ransacked their small weapons cache for missiles to replace the ones I had used. I found three.

I picked Samus up from the floor where I had placed her and raced out of there as quickly as possible, knowing the Others would send reinforcements once they read that message. I scrambled down the rocky stairs and through a passage that led to the overworld, not pausing until I had reached the edges of the Chozo Ruins. Out of breath, I limped to the inside of a partially-covered room, one with many Chozo sculptures but no ghosts. It appeared to have once been a training ground of some kind, with numerous passages that went nowhere and could only be accessed with Morph Ball technology.

I set Samus down to catch my breath. Science Team drones are built to sprint short distances for quick skirmishes with intruders, but not for any kind of long-distance running. The body designed for me by the Others was weighing me down, even though I could defend myself better with the items I had picked up along the way.

I heard a muffled exclamation behind me, then a sudden shriek of fear and rage, along with the sound of the body bag's seal tearing open. I turned round to see Samus kicking free of the shroud, eyes wide.

"Are you all right?" I asked. I was completely unprepared for her reaction.

She reached for a weapon that had doubtless been confiscated upon her capture, then bent down, snatched a rock, and hurled it with surprising force at my left eye. Had she not still been somewhat unsteady from the sedative, she likely would have put the eye out. Her ability with even the most primitive of weapons was frightening.

She screamed something at me in her hominid tongue and I realized that she had no translation ability without her suit. "I am Dr. B," I said, and bent my head so that she could see the identifying mark I had made there. I braced for another rock, but it did not come. Looking up, I saw her staring around warily, running her hands along the marks in her blue clothing where I had pulled out the diagnostic equipment. She likely had been awake for at least part of the procedure.

Samus turned to me and asked a question. I could make a good guess as to what it was. "Your suit is in Phendrana Drifts," I told her, pointing in that direction. Then I pointed to the shroud. "I carried you because you were asleep and I feared the Others would come."

She regarded me blankly, giving the shroud a disgusted kick. I did not understand her behavior; it was clean. I picked it up, folded it (as she would probably change her mind once we reached Phendrana Drifts), and gestured for her to follow me. She did so, still rubbing her injured skin and casting wary looks around her.

I noticed a flock of Shriekbats sleeping in the entryway to the next room, and held up my hand to stop her. Undeterred, she hurled more rocks, hitting the creatures squarely in the head. At each turn, she would defend herself as best she could, then look to me to lead the way. Luckily the vast majority of the animals of the Tallon IV overworld were either vulnerable to simple stones or easy to avoid.

The door to the Phendrana Drifts elevator was open; luckily she had probably blasted the lock some time before this. Therefore I could open it without wasting any missiles. Once the door at the end of the elevator opened, she stepped forward, then hesitated as the frigid air blasted in our faces.

I held up the shroud. "This will keep you warm," I explained, even though I knew she would not understand the words I spoke. "Your hominid body is too fragile for this temperature." Technically, it was not good for me either, but I would have to stand around for a long time for my exoskeleton to crack in the cold. I was not going to sit and wait for that to happen.

She stared at the body bag and then at the frozen scene in front of her, her lips and the fingers of the arms she wrapped around herself already beginning to turn blue. With an irritated look, she held her hand out for the shroud. Stepping into it, she fastened it halfway up, then looked down at her feet and asked another question.

I realized she did not want to be carried, but there was no other option. I pointed to the shroud and held my hands in a cradling position, saying nothing when she protested. Finally she conceded and fastened it all the way up. I picked her up and it did not take her long to curl up inside it, trying to combat what cold that did penetrate the shroud with her own body heat.

The ground was covered in frozen precipitation. After a few steps I could see my tracks clearly behind me. Though the Others could not necessarily know they were mine, they would likely be suspicious of any tracks indicating one of them traveling alone. The Others never did anything alone.

I heard a series of snorts, from a large vertebrate creature. A huge figure rose from the white drifts, enormous crystals on its back. It took one look at me and let forth a blast of ice. I dodged and rolled, careful not to crush Samus. It chased me across the ruined room, and as I looked back I noticed that its floundering completely obscured my tracks. I led it back and forth a few times to ensure that none remained, then ducked through another door as it aimed another icy blast.

Looking up just in time to see sentry drones hovering above me, I fired at both of them and ran back and forth in the small enclosure, dodging their fire as best I could. I before dispatching them, I had been hit twice. I hoped that I would come across no more sentry drones, as they were harder to dodge than the Others.

After that, we traveled across the Drifts with little trouble. We met none of the Others for a long while; I had been right in assuming they would guard the shorter path. Aside from the great ice-breathing creatures, the native fauna of Tallon IV did not cause us much trouble. For her part, Samus stayed curled up against the cold. I heard her muttering now and then, and it did not sound angry; but I did not speak any hominid tongue, so I could not understand her.

But as we approached one of the watch stations, fear began to return. There was no way around the watch tower, and with the Hunter escaped it would be full of the Others. The possibility that we could both die at the hands of the Others had always been there, but now it would not leave my mind. I entered the elevator leading up to the watch tower, and suddenly realized I could go no further.

I stood there for a while, and finally Samus raised her head and asked a question, probably wondering what I was doing. She had stated that I must not think about death, only surviving. About what I would do afterward, which was to help her retrieve her suit. I tried very hard to only focus on this objective, and took a couple steps forward. Then I froze again.

She looked at me, and then out through the small window where I stood. Three of the Others waited out there, their bodies tense, watching warily for any sign of a disturbance. An Elite stood behind them. Samus tapped my thorax lightly and pointed to the opposite door. Looking closer, I could see its lock had been broken; likely her own work. She spoke softly and made a series of gestures that seemed to suggest I run to the opposite door as quickly as possible. Certainly there was no way the Elite would fit through there; if the space behind was narrow enough I would be able to fight one at a time.

This made logical sense, but was risky, very risky. I calculated a 90% possibility that it would not work. I stepped forward, then back again. I could not make my legs work properly.

Samus watched me for a while, even though I did not have any real expression like hominids do. It was an advantage we had programmed into ourselves. Why advertise fear to the enemy? Finally she patted her hand against my thorax, her voice rising and falling as she offered both words of solace and encouragement.

How did I know they were meant to encourage me, to pull away my fear? I cannot say. I can only assume it was something in how our mutual I worked together. Yet, strangely, it seemed to work. I could feel the fear receding in the back of my mind, being replaced by the strength of my I, urging to be heard. To complete the mission I had set out to do. To prove that the I is the source of power in the galaxy. Not the Others.

I clutched the bundle I carried tightly, and felt her tense. Fearing I would become immobile again if I waited too long, I charged through the door onto the watchtower platform.

My sudden appearance certainly caught the Others off guard, and for a precious few seconds they did nothing but stand and gawk as I sprinted to the opposite side. Then, a split second before I reached the door, the Elite calmly stepped in front of it. Nearly slamming into it, I skidded to a halt and set off my missile launcher right into its face. It bellowed in rage and I dodged off to the side as the rest of the Others finally came after me. I took a hard turn and squeezed in behind the Elite, but felt long-fingered hands grasping both at me and my burden. The Others threw me on my back, one with its weapon arm against my neck. "8411-B? Impossible," I heard a voice speak beside me.

"It must be. Look at what the traitor has brought!" Another one ripped the shroud apart and held Samus aloft by one leg. "The Hunter is not so impressive without her hard shell, is she?"

In response, Samus reached up and grasped its bulging eyes, then pulled them from their sockets.

The hapless Other shrieked so loudly that it distracted all the rest for a split second, allowing me to rise from the ground and shoot one of the many ordinance boxes on the platform. In the ensuing explosion I picked up Samus where she had dropped lightly to her feet and ducked into the bunker above the door. The opening in the bunker had been positioned in such a way that they could not fire directly at us if we stayed in one corner. They tried anyway, and I knew we could not stay there forever, waiting for them to blow it up entirely. Samus jumped up and down, arms around her body, her face turning blue from the cold.

The bunker had a weapons cache of its own. I pried apart the containers and fished out rocket launchers, laser guns, and a jet pack. Samus seized one of the guns and I took everything else. I motioned for her to climb upon my back and she did so. I blasted a hole into the ceiling of the bunker and rose into the air.

The Others raised their heads as one and then their arms to fire. I let loose every weapon I had at once, a death blossom of missiles and laser fire. Some found their mark, some crashed into the watch towers themselves. In the ensuing noise and rubble and flying bits of exoskeleton, I ducked into the doorway and flew down into the elevator shaft. I fired the last of the extra missiles at the shaft itself and it collapsed inward, showering us with dust but sealing the Others outside.

I felt Samus lightly step off my back, no longer deathly cold as we were in the research area, sheltered from Phendrana Drifts' natural temperature. Cold enough to slow down Metroids, but warm enough for her to survive.

She came round in front of me, chattering excitedly. Praise. Something I had not heard before, should not have recognized, but did…thanks to my I.

I looked behind her toward the tunnel that led to where her suit was being held. That would be the hardest part; it was sure to be well guarded. We still had much ahead of us.