Samus and I ran through the halls, stopping only when we reached the next communications room. Samus banged on the control board, muttering to herself, "All right, machine, you better have a good story behind this."
Samus, you shouldn't have done that, it said. You ignored your orders.
She unleashed a barrage of frustration-words. "You corrupted hunk of metal, what the hell are you talking about? There were Metroids in there, Metroids! What on earth is the BSL doing with them?"
"It was Lydia who provided the sample, wasn't it?" I demanded. "She stole it and sold it, just as she stole Oltar's work earlier. The Federation probably didn't even know a Metroid survived Samus's purge until she contacted them."
The Space Pirate is correct, the computer stated, ignoring both our shouts of "Dr B!". Lydia contacted Federation headquarters with an offer. She knew that even though the official line of the Federation was the destruction of all Metroids, there was another faction that wanted to raise them. What you saw in that lab was a breeding facility…for peaceful purposes only, you understand.
"What possible purpose could they have?" I threw a few frustration-words of my own at the computer. I felt angry enough to explode, and the frustration-words diffused that anger ever so slightly. I wanted to break the computer, but its ship was the only way off the station. "Metroids are only good for hunting the X. And if not for the Federation's meddling, the X would not be a threat at all!"
The computer ignored me. Samus, there will be a price to pay for this. You will have to contact the Federation. I don't know how they will take it, but regardless…you need to leave. The other SA-X will come looking for you. There are too many for you to fight off at once. Head back to the ship, but check in with me just before you reach the hangar. We don't want to give any of them a free ride.
"Whatever," Samus muttered, smacking the control board. "Come on, Dr. B, let's see how many of those things we can hit on the way back." She opened the next door. "I hate that damned computer. At least with a human CO I'm dealing with a person, not some machine obsessed with duty."
"Samus," I said thoughtfully as we made our way through the halls, "The computer spoke strangely. It had pauses in its speech, like a hominid. And it spoke almost as if it were trying to decide what to say, instead of merely relaying information."
She turned to stare at me. "Are you saying that thing has an I?"
"I am not completely sure. I would need to give it more thought. I could not sense an I, yet it did not seem completely mechanical to me."
We both heard the echo of Chozo metal on the floor. To our right, one of the SA-X walked towards us. If it were sentient, I would have said it walked with a leisurely pace. But it was just one part of a collective, like the Others, and therefore had no emotion. It zeroed in on our coordinates with no more and no less malice than a homing missile.
Samus blasted the thing with a renewed fury, taking out all the anger she could not direct to the computer onto the SA-X. For its part, the Thing paid no attention to me, completely focused on Samus. I used this to my advantage, blasting its helmet from behind to distract it as Samus attacked from the front. For several tense minutes it fought us, until Samus finally blewit apart. She stood over it for a few moments, breathing hard, then suddenly snapped to attention. "Screw the damn computer. There's no way the Federation can get rid of these things. I'm going to cut down every last one."
Suddenly the lights dimmed, the hum of the machinery wound down, and loud clicks echoed through the halls as doors bolted. We both stared at each other. "Do you think it heard us?" I asked.
"Let's find out," she said in a clipped voice, one she only used when something was about to die.
In the nearest communication room, Samus banged on the control panel again. "Explain yourself, machine!"
I have secured you here for your own safety, the computer stated.
"I'm not an idiot. I can handle those things. Why is the station in lockdown?"
The computer said nothing for a long time. I felt the ghost of an I again, fading in and out of my senses. Samus, you are secured in here to prevent you from engaging the SA-X. You were not supposed to pick up the Wave Beam, the Federation sent it but then sent instructions forbidding me to reveal its location…
"What on earth for?" Samus shouted. "What possible reason would the Federation have in preventing me from destroying those things?"
The Federation believes that the SA-X has endless potential. It has put together the prototype of an army of Samus Arans, each one controlled by the Federation. Unlike a bounty hunter, these would follow orders exactly…
"These things don't follow orders!" Samus kept raising her weapon arm and then jerking it down, as if trying to prevent herself from shooting the computer. "They're just a bunch of automatons bent on taking over all they can find!"
"The Federation does not trust me, yet it wants to add these to its army?" I asked, incredulous. "They are just like the Others…and the Others and I know the Federation has attempted to reprogram both Space Pirates and Metroids to bend to its will. Both ended in failure."
Regardless, I have been instructed to keep you here. The Federation will be here shortly. They will both pick you up and take care of the SA-X.
Samus stood silently for a long time. I could tell she was thinking, so I said nothing to disturb her. Although her face was almost expressionless, her armor hiding any kind of body language, I could tell she was gathering her resolve for something dangerous. For something she felt she needed to do, irrespective of the danger. "Dr. B."
"Yes?"
"Do you remember the battle with Mother Brain, on Zebes?"
"Of course," I said. Suddenly I realized she was trying to say something important without the computer comprehending our conversation.
Samus turned to me. "Will you stand with me again?"
I didn't know what her plan was, but I understood what the end result would probably be. "I will."
She gave me a grateful look, and turned back to the doorway. "All right. Then just follow me."
Suddenly the doors of the communication room slammed shut. Samus screamed in rage and unleashed a volley of blasts on the door. "How did it know?" I demanded of no one in particular.
"Open the doors!" she barked at the computer.
I have been ordered to keep you here. The Federation…
"The X will kill them all! They'll take over the whole galaxy! Don't you see what will happen, Adam?"
Both the computer and I fell silent. "It has a name?" I asked her. "Why didn't you tell me? Why does it have a name if it is not sentient?"
Who is Adam? the computer asked. I looked to Samus for an explanation. Why did she address it with a name it did not know?
"A friend of mine," Samus muttered, sullen.
You are planning to activate the self-destruct mechanism. You realize that this would be a suicide mission.
"Whatever it takes," she snarled. "What must be done, must be done."
Would this Adam sit in a safe control room and order you to your death?
"He would know that sometimes it must be done. He made that sacrifice himself once…"
My mind reeled. So this was the answer to the riddle she had given me back on Tallon IV, right after I first met her. She had been surprised that the Others in command gave no protection to those below them. It was the duty of the ones of higher rank, she said, to protect those under their orders. Even at the risk of their own life…
Your Adam sacrificed himself for you. How foolish…
"What do you know, machine!" Samus directed a blast of wrath at the computer. "You have no idea what it means…why he…"
Samus, do you realize that if you destroy this station, you will not destroy the X? They still exist on SB388. Without Metroids, they will be free to travel the galaxy on the first host they can find.
Her face contorted in puzzlement. "What…"
I suddenly felt the presence of another I fill the room, as if had been sleeping and suddenly awakened. Sacrifice is a fool's drama if there is another way out, Samus. Your Adam made the wrong choice. Listen carefully. You must first change the station's orbit so that it will enter SB388's atmosphere and crash on the planet. That is the only way to destroy the X.
Samus's eyes widened. "Are you…"
Change the station's coordinates, then get back to the ship. Move as quickly as you can, and stay alive. That's an order! Any objections, Lady?
"No sir!" Suddenly animated, Samus beckoned to me as the doors opened. "Come on, Dr. B!"