Chapter Ten: Dark
"Come on, Sammy." Samus said, clenching the blankets into her fist. The dark haired girl was sweating profusely, trembling in her sleep. She made the occasional moan, something paining her.
"Wake up, kid." Saria said, biting her lower lip. "You gotta wake up."
"What could be happening to her?" Samus asked, also biting her lower lip.
"Her Phazon's increasing." Saria said. "That might be due to it. I can't confirm anything."
"I hope she'll be alright." Samus said.
"Me too." Saria said.
"S-Sam—us." Sammy said, panting through the nightmare. "S-Sar—ia."
"What is it?" Samus and Saria both asked.
Sammy kept repeating their names, her body tense. She was thrashing and shouting, pain in her expression.
Samus touched her face, stroking it to comfort her. But, after a few seconds, she was pulsed back, hitting the other wall.
Samus and Saria looked at Sammy, the girl beginning to rise a little. A strange, dark blue fluid seeped from her body, coating the bed beneath her. It eventually coated her in a cocoon, hiding her from view.
"What is that?" Samus asked, getting up and moving over to touch the substance.
"Don't." Saria said, a little worry in her voice. "That's pure Phazon."
"But" Samus said.
"You can't touch it." Saria said. "It'll infect you. I think Sammy's unaffected by the radiation. But, we can't touch her or it'll infect you."
"Understood." Samus said. "But, what can we do?"
"We can get to another Federation planet." Saria said. "WE're too far from Earth to turn around. They'd have some sort of way to help her. I'm sure of it."
"A-alright." Samus said, heading to the cockpit of her ship and setting the course for the nearest Federation planet.
"So" Samus asked. "What do we do in the meantime?"
"We just wait and sit nearby." Saria said. "IT can't hurt us unless we're near it."
"So" Samus said. "What could cure this?"
"Well" Saria said. "Maybe one of those suit things the Federation has."
"The PEDs?" Samus asked. "How will that help?"
"Not sure.' Saria said. "But, it might."
"Right.' Samus said, nodding. "I'm hungry."
"Me too." Saria said. "Which is odd."
"Yeah." Samus said. "I'll grab a quick bite and then we can figure out something."
"Yeah." Saria said. "Grab something with strawberries in it. I like those."
"You can take over then." Samus said, rolling her eyes.
"Oh right." Saria said, remembering, grinning sheepishly. "So, let's get to that then.'
Samus went into the kitchen, making herself a sandwich and eating it. She then shifted to Saria, her doing the same.
"So" Saria said, shifting back to Samus. "What do we do now?"
"We're almost to the nearest planet." Samus said. "WE'll figure it out when we get there."
"Right." Saria said. "We will."
"I hope so." Samus said. "For her sake."
After their arrival
The scientists loaded Sammy's 'cocoon' onto a cart and moved it into a radiology room. Samus and Saria watched from the window as they tried to carefully open the cocoon, but to no avail.
"It's hardened." One scientist said. "That's odd. It shouldn't be this hardened. It should be in a liquid state."
"Though" another said. "The circumstances of this are strange to begin with. How would Phazon do this to someone anyway?"
"No clue." A third said. "But, I'm sure that Samus could provide us with some answers if we choose to ask her."
"Yeah." The first said. "Let's ask her, but one of us keep an eye on the cocoon."
"Right." The second said, nodding.
Two of them walked out of the room, looking at Samus.
"Miss Aran" one said.
"Yeah.' Samus said, looking at them.
"We have a few questions we have to ask you." The other said. "About the girl, Sammy, and this condition."
"And, they would be?" Samus asked.
"How did she come into this condition?" the first asked.
"I told you." Samus said, irritable. "Ridley injected her with something. I don't know what, just that he injected her."
"Okay then." The second said. "But, how long did it take for the cocoon to appear?"
"About an hour." Samus said. "And, it just happened all at once."
"Okay then." The first said. "Well, I'm not sure how to tell you this, but, we can't break the cocoon. It's nearly impenetrable. IT's resisted every single one of our methods we have of breaking solidified Phazon."
"What?" Samus asked. "So, you're saying she's trapped in there?"
"Yes." The second said. "We have tried many things to get her out, but the Phazon is hard and it's unbelievably so. There's almost no way to break it."
"Sammy." Samus said, looking back into the room.
"We'll continue working." The scientist said. "This is a very fascinating circumstance and we'd hope to continue observing it."
"She's not your guinea pig.' Samus said.
"We understand." The scientist said as he and his colleague returned to the radiology room. "Though, the only thing you can do is head to your ship or go wait somewhere. We will contact you when we are done."
"Thanks, I guess." Samus said, sighing.
"Let's go check out that weapons department." Saria said. "Maybe they got some awesome destructive toys for us to play with.'
"Alright." Samus said. "WE can check it out. But, I want to be back here."
"The less you see this." Saria said. "The better off and more emotionally stable you'll be."
"Right.' Samus said. She walked off to the weapons room, Saria grinning the whole time.
Later
"This Phazon is remarkable." The scientist said, holding a small piece in his protected hands. "It is pure, more pure than any other Phazon we've seen."
"It is." The second said.
"So" the third said. "What's our progress on the cocoon?"
"Not good." The first said.
Suddenly, a cracking sound came from the cocoon. A hand punched through the cocoon, clenched into a fist.
The scientists all backed away as the object in the cocoon emerged, a dark blue glow seen from the outside windows, then blackness.
With Samus
Samus rushed back to the room, looking in. All she could see was the destroyed cocoon and the dead scientists. She ran down the hall, a feeling like the feeling she got when near Phazon entering her.
She exited the building to see something that stopped her blood cold.
What could it be that stopped Samus' blood cold? Find out soon.