The Djinn Upgrade

Samus was ever so weary to just lose all of her armor's upgrades and components all the time.

Each universe-saving mission seemed to start the same way, with explosions or data-breach into her Chozo suit which made it so she lost critical data, functionalities and key abilities which she had to track back one at a time. The Chozo had been one of the apex society during their time, making it so it was possible to gain all of it back and then some each time, but it was a pain to have one of the most powerful and adaptive weapon in history, only to find out that it couldn't hold tightly onto its peak efficiency for so long. She needed to find something drastic and permanent, a change from the usual or else she'd ever be caught in situations which could possibly be solved much more easily if she had access to everything from the start. Her database, her super missiles, her super bombs, her gravity suit, the ice beam...Everything. Traditional means coming from Chozo technology did not seem to solve the issue...

So she had to look somewhere else.

Her research through multiple planets inhabited by this ancient race, coupled with her own database getting fuller and fuller, made it so she actually discovered an off-shoot of the Chozo, a separate group of them who seceded from the rest, going into their own society. They believed in the alliance of myth and science whereas the main branch of the Chozo only gave credence to the latter and discarded the former. To them, what they were doing felt incomplete, the ability to tune-in with the cosmos being worthy of research. Cast out for their inconsistency, or their perceived insanity, those exiled Chozo created a society of their own, closed to the universe until they could go back in triumph and prove their methods and their own faith. The logs, no matter how far she went, didn't move past that point and thus it made Samus question just what had happened to them. Did they perish along the rest? Were they still alive? Did they make any significant breakthrough? So many questions that needed to be answered and eventually, after searching high and low, she found coordinates to where they had gone, a planet indeed isolated from the rest.

Arabi-4N.

She set her ship to travel there, light-speed bursting in in order to reach it as fast as possible. Right now she had managed to regain her varia suit, the missiles, her morph ball, two types of scanners and the grappling hook. She was not at peak performance, but it was much better than nothing as she could handle most of anything from the wilds on about 75% of all planets in her database. She knew next to nothing about the fauna and flora of this new planet, nor if she'd encouter any hostiles there, but it always paid better to be prepared as she prepped her suit when she did reach the surface. There was a sandstorm right now, which made it so her visibility was poor while using her ship. Thankfully, her suit did have a thermal scan, which would come in handy as she got inside it, then left the interior of her means of travel in order to explore a bit. Her ship's scanners did not detect much of anything, the troubling environment managing to jam them thoroughly. As she went on to move through the intense heat and the harsh winds, helped greatly by her suit's temperature adjustment and its solid grip on the ground, she managed to find the entrance to a tunnel which led underground. Sensing that she would not be able to find much during such an extreme case of natural hazard, she headed there in order to find some more information.

Entering the premise, she found statues and little decorations, all indications that this was indeed the entryway to a deeper complex as a little map could be found there, ready to be either observed or downloaded through scanning technology. As she installed the architectural plans and the location of facilities through her own database, she went on to scan everything she could, accessing journals, diary entries and reports while she walked down. There was a very symbiotic approach to the unknown, their artistry and their vision of technology as there seemed to be surreal drawings, fascinating little displays here and there of their imagined conception of the Cosmos itself. It was as if they saw galaxies, systems and the universe as a whole as an incredible source of malleable, though ever-flowing energy. The way they talked, it was almost like a religious experience, akin to magic more than rational explanations. Samus could see why the Chozo's main branch did not exactly tolerate them, half of their entries being some bizarre and incoherent mumbo jumbo rather than full-on scientific queries and observations. They seemed intelligent, infinitely curious but also quite deluded somehow. The more she found out about them, the less she felt certain that they would hold the answers she was searching for. However, they kept on talking about the discovery of the millenium, a way to harness energy without breaking its flow, without damaging or lowering its efficiency. This made her curious as Samus delved further down, both eager and anxious to find out what she would find there.

It seemed that those Chozos were long gone by the looks of it. Their living arrangements had deteriorated, their furniture and their rather different approach to decoration half-rotting as insects had crawled inside some of the wall nearby. They seemed to be more open about their living arrangements, with no door or big security to be found. No golems, no automatons or even caged beasts waiting for her in this area, which was a refreshing change. There were, however, no upgrades or attachments to her armor, which was rather disappointing as although information and lore was ever interesting, it did not always helped her in defeating 15 meters high giants with claws long as her own ship. She needed for her armor to be at its mightiest and to stay in that state forever. That was the whole point of this whole journey, of course. With no living soul there, she eventually found a door in which there was an actual lock, a rare sight in these tunnels as Samus scanned it, only to find a message encoded within.

We were fools. We have created something far too big for us to handle. We were right, but we should never found that out. The constant sandstorms, the heat on this planet and this soul-crushing discovery, the price of it, has ensured that we saw just how deluded we all were. We shall seal this place and head back to the others in the hope that this place shall never be discovered.

It was ominous, a warning placed there for other Chozos and those who'd be able to decipher their language as Samus felt somewhat curious about this creation was exactly. Another set of armor? An upgrade? A ship? It did seem dangerous and perhaps it would be best if it was destroyed rather than sitting there, waiting for someone with ill intents or simple ignorance to claim it for themselves. The lock on the door was ultimately quite simple, a singular blast from her arm cannon sufficing as the door opened, letting her in. She looked around, a vast room with a tall ceiling, plenty of artifice and decorations that had been ravaged by time being seen against the wall and on the floor. Large banners, a long and hole-covered rug with intricate Chozo patterns, it looked like a ceremonial area more than anything as there was a hint of a Chozo statue at the end of it. It was half-built, its head, shoulders and legs not quite being done, yet its torso, arms and hands were as it held something in front of it. It looked much like all those places where she had found upgrades for her Chozo armor, yet it seemed like it hadn't been completed, mostly due to the realization of what they had unfortunately accomplished it seemed. She scanned most of everything, the banners telling of stories in which such symbols had significance, each objects ever imprinted with tales that the Chozo loved to tell, be it through analysis or metaphors. She did so until she laid her eyes on the infamous object itself, something that seemed rather...mundane.

An old-styled oil lamp.

It had a spout, a handle, a base and a rather round shape. It was clad in the same colors as her own armor, that of orange, red and yellow. There was a crest on it, that lightning-bolt looking insignia that was placed upon most of everything Chozo-related. It stood there, looking as pristine as the day it had been created, most assuredly due to Chozo technology and the way it handled and recycled energy so well. A touch of incredulity went to course through Samus' mind as she just couldn't believe that this thing could instill so much fear in a race known for their wisdom and their technological advancement. Granted, those who did make this were labelled as fanatics and fools, but it was rather uncanny to think that something like that caused so much fear. She had to find out perhaps a little more, if only to make sense of what this was before she'd go on and try to destroy it, if only to conclude this little expedition with some answers. As such, her visor locked upon this simple item and it went on to read its technological aura, converting observations to data at surprising speed.

This lamp shall gather the energy of the Cosmos, not through absorption, but rather through symbiosis, a channeling of power to make it so its user, its wearer, will go on to be a part of it rather than a handler. External sources shall be able to use it through limited means, if only to put limits upon it. However, we have no idea of the actual level of potential this could bring but also the effects on those that would attach themselves to the lamp. The more we think about it, the more we begin to believe we are meddling with affairs on a scale that is unprecedented and far, far above our station..."

The report stopped there, yet something occurred as while Samus was scanning the lamp, a new little meter went on to appear on her screen as it seemed like the object itself was doing the same to her. She felt somewhat insecure, wondering just what was happening as the meter rose to high levels, seemingly completing a download at incredible speed until her own visor seemed to switch to a whole new user interface. The lamp was somehow overpowering her own system and Samus instinctively thought of this as something that needed to be prevented, lifting her arm cannon in order to blast this thing with a charged blast or a missile, whichever would work best. As she placed her weapon, which seemed to be an absolutely arduous task, her armor somehow fighting against her, she heard some kind of Chozo melody playing in her helmet before something terrible happened.

Her armor dissolved.

It seemed to turn into liquid and then into vapor as it got deconstructed through a complex method, one that Samus was unable to properly fight against. She tried to set up emergency protocols, a reboot of her hardware and software, but nothing responded. A quick exit, an escape from her Chozo armor was the next thing she attempted, yet it was tightly pressing against her even as she was disrobed. The liquid turned into mist extremely quickly, making it so the lamp did the opposite of what it was supposed to do, that is sucking in smoke inside it. The armor flew in the spout, absorbed in a way that made Samus slightly panic as she tried to go on and shoot it, yet her arm cannon simply vanished, leaving her in her Zero suit, the vestment required to be comfortable beneath that heavy set of armor. However, this was but the beginning as other things began to get noticeable to Samus as her helmet went off, turned to smoke as it cleared her vision, allowing her to see what was happening to her.

Her clothes were changing too. Her wrists were adorned with large golden cuffs which seemed to swallow a bit of her forearms too. Her legs, half-covered still by her armor, seemed to be covered in some silk and satin puffy pants, like pantaloons that belonged on a dancer's body more than a deadly warrior like herself. Her belly was now bare, left uncovered as her musculature and her curves were on display, with thankfully no one to see them as she shook her head and tried to struggle, which made her feel that she now had earrings as they came in contact with her cheeks while she moved. Looking at what was happening, her naked feet were then covered by curved slippers, making it so she no longer seemed to be a bounty hunter, the famous Samus Aran clad in the mightiest weapon, but something unrecognizable in terms of uniforms. Her suit was dissipating, the lamp sucking it all, its own technology unable to fight back against the bizarre and yet mighty object whose spout defied all conventions and reason. The more it went on, the less of her armor was in the way, leaving for her blue suit converted into a harem's fantasy as she grinned and fought as hard as she could, yet it was for naught. Soon, her armor was gone and then...it was her turn.

Her feet and leg were too converted into smoke, a painless procedure that even seemed to be somewhat pleasant, yet she knew it was a lure, a trick to pacify her. She could feel a weightless pressure around her thighs, her toes, her feet, her ankles...yet they were all gone, puffed up into some kind of diaphanous tail which connected to the spout, suckled in without pause. Then, it was time for her waist and her hips to be converted, her lower body entirely turned into something gaseous instead of solid and it felt like a massage to her muscles, her skin and her bones, a true little ecstasy as she shivered in both terror and pleasure, this torment being sweet as she saw that she got closer to the lamp, her legs now entirely inside whatever would be inside the lamp. The next step was her belly and torso, the massage being mind-numbing as she moaned slightly, unable to keep it all in as her supple curves, her chest and her abdomen were touched as if by phantom fingers of delicate qualities. She was not forced in roughly more than pulled in inches by inches, which resulted in Samus losing her strength more and more. Her shoulders and neck were next as she got to see up close how flawless, how beautiful the lamp was. Her own thoughts converged with alien ones, invasive perceptions that just couldn't be pushed away. She felt slack, her entire body there yet not really, in ecstasy but not in the way she understood the concept. It made no sense, but then as her head was converted the last vestige of Samus Aran, the one she was prior to this encounter, was all but gone, the last hint of blue, orange, red, yellow and green smoke vanishing entirely from existence.

She was now inside the lamp. She was formless, powerless, helpless and vulnerable. Her entire being had been converted to smoke, yet the lamp shook, her own senses being more and more attuned to it as she saw nothing but darkness, then blinding light as she herself felt something not just in her body, but in something she never did quite believe too much in: her soul. A part of her which she had never been conscious about, never been quite attuned to, was shaking and being poured with energy as the lamp seemed to permeate itself through a fabric which covered all, yet that none could properly handle. It filled her, caressed her in the gentlest of ways, yet it also drowned her very quickly as fear took hold of her. Something strange was going on and she couldn't fight against it. She had no weaponry, no freedom of action, no protection, nothing to defend herself with. She was being changed and it felt both wonderful and terrible. Then, some new thoughts through the form of energy popped within her, something brought in to ease her into this.

Everything was fine.

An alien voice, though very much like hers, told her that and she actually came to believe it little by little. She was basked in something grand, much too big for her puny mind to comprehend, yet this was expanded too. She came to understand that she would be one with the Cosmos now, that she would be part of its fabric in a way unlike any other being. She would be a force, a catalyst and an agent of both chaos, order, magic and hard-set rules. As her consciousness grew in size and in potential, many new thoughts converged and entered it, making it so Samus went on to change not just physically, but mentally as well.

You are powerful.

You are one with the Cosmos.

You shall wield immense potential for you and others.

She formed new thoughts, new ways to perceive things as her old ideology and mannerism began to get discarded progressively. Yet, what was happening was a good thing. She could help others, reshape things in the best of ways and wield might that dwarfed anything she knew. She had the power of ten...no, hundreds...no...thousands of Chozo suits bursting within her. After all, the potential to conjure ice through methods of ionization, or the ability to converge her form to energy and shaping herself into a ball were just very advanced science in a way, yet now she felt capable of so much more. The energy coursing through her, greeted by every cells and molecules of her being, of her soul, made it so she understood how to reshape, remold and manipulate just about everything. She grew to have the understanding that she was to be the grandest being in the entire universe.

You shall be handled by those who hold the lamp.

You shall obey their will.

You cannot disobey.

You shall enjoy obeying their commands.

You will disallow abuse of your power through careful limits.

You are a servant, a slave.

The protocols within the lamp were installed within her brain now as she agreed with them all. Such power should not be handled by just about anyone. A tandem, not unlike a commanding officer and a soldier, one who orders and the one who obeyed. Yet her predicament was different in that she would gladly do so, was looking very much forward to doing so in fact. Pumped with subliminals, suggestions, commands and edicts, Samus grew accustomed to this and went on from terror to just sheer bliss. Nothing about this predicament was bad, quite the opposite in fact. This was pure satisfaction that was poring through her entire being, from top to bottom and then some. A healthy dose of hypnotic energy, all created by the lamp, ensured that everything she went through would be at the peak of pleasure and happiness, making it so she was in the purest of trance, the most delightful of induction being what she was going through.

You are a new being.

You shall be named djinn now.

Your entire purpose is to serve.

You wield power for others.

You are a servant.

You shall forever be this and be content with your role.

Half of what was being said came through protocols and limits created in the programming of the lamp, yet the other half was the Cosmos itself dictating terms. This was a shift in the rules, in how things would go from now on. Samus, however, was unaware of this and most assuredly didn't care. Most of what she had been was gone now, replaced by this new version of hers. She felt upgraded, made better in such a ridiculously amazing way that nothing could compare to this and she was simply downright adoring toward this change.

Be released and let your energy be known and tested.

Call your future owner to this place.

Make them feel welcome.

The lamp shook and in a matter of seconds a thick cloud of smoke was bursting out of the tip of the spout. Green and blue with hints of gold and yellow. Samus got out as her eyes had changed, filled with spirals as she smiled pleasantly. Any scars she had, any imperfections and damage due to battle had been healed, removed as if it had never been there in the first place. Her hair was silky smooth, her skin luscious and her beauty permeated by a subtle aura of power and allure. She still had the same appearance, yet her demeanor had changed completely as she was more gracious and grandiloquent in her motions, each and every gesture accompanied by some kind of sparkle, an excess of the power she carried translated through visual cues. She was still connected to the lamp, her own home and catalyst, her legs and feet transformed into a tail that waved around as if it were dancing, her more human-looking part beginning at her waist and her hips. Then, she used her newfound might as if she knew immediately how to best handle it, summoning multiple arms to launch a plethora of spells. Each one of those appendages were armored, a vestige of her past as a wielder of Chozo suit and of her life as a bounty hunter. She remembered quite well what she had gone through, yet now everything would be forever better. She had been imprinted with the ideas and perceptions that this was her fate, one that she loved above all things. Her mind had been brainwashed, controlled by many elements to form something else, the concepts of servitude and obedience being of the utmost importance to her, now and forevermore. Then, she unleashed green flames within those summoned arms and used her new knowledge and capabilities upon this place, these tunnels, to make it look less shady and destroyed.

Her magic flowed through her, crackling in the air and around her as the carpet, the banners and everything was dusted off. The artistry in the halls and tunnels were restored, the air was made less stale and fresher, the insects were chased away. All quarters were made to be inhabitable again, all that was terrible or uninviting were made to look pretty, flawless, as if they were brand new. The installations were all fixed up in five seconds, thanks to a very small use of her power as she felt that it was good exercise. Then, she looked up and saw through the layers of dirt, earth and sand, gazing at the stars and even beyond at planets on which perhaps her master or mistress could be found. She needed one to reshape the universe, for her power to be wielded properly as she could not go on and abuse of this immense privilege of hers. She was a djinn now and she needed to be guided, owned and cherished. Sending a signal through both psychic and technological means, she weaved a tale of opulence and opportunity as something great, magnificent and downright incredible would be found on Arabi-4N. An item which would change the fate of those who found it, something to be coveted and cherished. Content about what she had done, she felt a tug coming from the lamp as she only had to sleep and to wait for her to be released and owned. Then, she'd be fulfilling her purpose and she'd make others happy, which was her sole role as of now. She got back in the lamp, the bounty hunter that she was now gone from this universe, replaced by something much more potent but also quite different.

Unbeknownst to her, Samus had indeed accomplished her objective. She was now bound to a power that would not be taken away from her, one with which she could defeat villains and enemies much more easily. She'd eternally be, in fact, the most powerful being in the universe, in the Cosmos. The price she had to pay, however, was far higher than she could ever anticipate, but she couldn't really lament her fate or ever focus on her old life and desires now anyway.

She was a djinn and her purpose was to serve. Nothing more, nothing less.