Chapter II: Emergency
I sat on the bunk in my cold cell wearing nothing but the garments I usually wear under my armor. I could have loosed my Fusion Suit to keep me warm, but I didn't feel like enduring the annoyance of the guards shooting at me again. I'd overheard some conversation when the guards on my cell changed shifts. The crew of the ship seemed divided in opinion regarding my destroying SR388. At least there were some people on my side.
A man I'd not yet seen entered the detention area. He whispered something to the guards; the soldiers left the room. The stranger walked quickly up to the barrier of my cell. I saw by his uniform that he was a lieutenant.
"Ms. Aran," he said, "I need to talk to you urgently."
"Just like the other interrogators did?" I retorted.
"My name is Greg Hildebrandt. I was a good friend of Adam's."
I said nothing.
"Some things have come to light about the SA-X that I think you should know about," Hildebrandt continued. "First, we've figured out how it got on board your ship undetected. After Adam took the ship out of the docking bay to flee the Omega Metroid, several of the SA-X attacked it. The Metroid killed and consumed all but one of them. Its battle with that last SA-X was the cause of the blasted out hatch. The SA-X was severely damaged in the fight. It was injured to the point that some of its core DNA had been wiped out."
"So what?" I snapped.
"Samus, it used some of your DNA to replace the missing components."
"What? What does that mean?"
"It means that the SA-X is part human...part you."
I was at a loss for words. I could hardly think, let alone speak.
"It first came to light that the SA-X was different when it didn't fight back when the soldiers that boarded your ship captured it. It still has not shown any aggression toward personnel who approach it. It has not tried to reproduce, escape, or regenerate its Power Suit. The commander had it sent to the Ceres II station for further research."
"It has to be destroyed."
"I agree with you. Adam was told that the Federation wanted the SA-X for peaceful applications. That's bullshit. They're planning on using genetic material from you as well as the SA-X to create an ultimate biological weapon."
"How?"
"Imagine a strain of X introduced to an enemy environment. The X would be allowed to devour the entire enemy force. Then troops would be sent in equipped with Fusion Suits..."
"They have more?"
"Not yet. As of right now, you hold the last bit of Metroid DNA in the universe. The weapons division is counting on you being executed for the incident on SR388 so they can use your cadaver to create artificial Fusion Suits."
"They can't."
"They're certainly going to try. It gets worse. The ship carrying the SA-X was also carrying Adam to be reprogrammed. That ship was attacked on the way to Ceres II. The last transmission we received before we lost contact said that the ship with Adam in the computer blasted its way out of the docking bay during the fight. He's not attempted to make contact with the Federation."
"That could be because I smashed the comm. system."
"That was repaired before the ship left. We think the SA-X may have hijacked Adam."
"Damn it. That SA-X was fooling you. I tried to tell you all, the X are extremely intelligent; Now they've learned deceptive tactics. All that SA-X has to do is land on a populated planet..."
"I know. I also know that you're the only one who can hope to stop it. The entire Federation Army wouldn't stand a chance against the X. You're the one who has to do something."
"How? I'm awaiting trial and probable execution, remember?"
"I can help you. The ship will be passing through an area that will cause electrical interference in about an hour. The guards at your cell will change shifts at 1900 hours. Right now, your cell's barrier is wired to energy compensators to prevent you from absorbing the energy and escaping. At exactly 19:13, a program I'm going to run will shut down the compensator, making it look like the effects of the interference. You'll only have a three minute window to act. You have to absorb the barrier and steal a fighter ship."
"How exactly am I going to manage that unarmed?"
"You'll think of something. You're Samus Aran and the last Metroid. You won't have a problem escaping."
The guards reentered the detention area.
"I have to go," Hildebrandt whispered. "Good luck. 19:13, remember."
I nodded and sat back down to wait. It was 17:53 at the moment. My window of escape was just over an hour away. The plan was insane. Not to mention all Hildebrandt was putting on the line to help me. I promised myself that I'd get away and stop the SA-X before it was too late.
I sat on the bunk in my cold cell wearing nothing but the garments I usually wear under my armor. I could have loosed my Fusion Suit to keep me warm, but I didn't feel like enduring the annoyance of the guards shooting at me again. I'd overheard some conversation when the guards on my cell changed shifts. The crew of the ship seemed divided in opinion regarding my destroying SR388. At least there were some people on my side.
A man I'd not yet seen entered the detention area. He whispered something to the guards; the soldiers left the room. The stranger walked quickly up to the barrier of my cell. I saw by his uniform that he was a lieutenant.
"Ms. Aran," he said, "I need to talk to you urgently."
"Just like the other interrogators did?" I retorted.
"My name is Greg Hildebrandt. I was a good friend of Adam's."
I said nothing.
"Some things have come to light about the SA-X that I think you should know about," Hildebrandt continued. "First, we've figured out how it got on board your ship undetected. After Adam took the ship out of the docking bay to flee the Omega Metroid, several of the SA-X attacked it. The Metroid killed and consumed all but one of them. Its battle with that last SA-X was the cause of the blasted out hatch. The SA-X was severely damaged in the fight. It was injured to the point that some of its core DNA had been wiped out."
"So what?" I snapped.
"Samus, it used some of your DNA to replace the missing components."
"What? What does that mean?"
"It means that the SA-X is part human...part you."
I was at a loss for words. I could hardly think, let alone speak.
"It first came to light that the SA-X was different when it didn't fight back when the soldiers that boarded your ship captured it. It still has not shown any aggression toward personnel who approach it. It has not tried to reproduce, escape, or regenerate its Power Suit. The commander had it sent to the Ceres II station for further research."
"It has to be destroyed."
"I agree with you. Adam was told that the Federation wanted the SA-X for peaceful applications. That's bullshit. They're planning on using genetic material from you as well as the SA-X to create an ultimate biological weapon."
"How?"
"Imagine a strain of X introduced to an enemy environment. The X would be allowed to devour the entire enemy force. Then troops would be sent in equipped with Fusion Suits..."
"They have more?"
"Not yet. As of right now, you hold the last bit of Metroid DNA in the universe. The weapons division is counting on you being executed for the incident on SR388 so they can use your cadaver to create artificial Fusion Suits."
"They can't."
"They're certainly going to try. It gets worse. The ship carrying the SA-X was also carrying Adam to be reprogrammed. That ship was attacked on the way to Ceres II. The last transmission we received before we lost contact said that the ship with Adam in the computer blasted its way out of the docking bay during the fight. He's not attempted to make contact with the Federation."
"That could be because I smashed the comm. system."
"That was repaired before the ship left. We think the SA-X may have hijacked Adam."
"Damn it. That SA-X was fooling you. I tried to tell you all, the X are extremely intelligent; Now they've learned deceptive tactics. All that SA-X has to do is land on a populated planet..."
"I know. I also know that you're the only one who can hope to stop it. The entire Federation Army wouldn't stand a chance against the X. You're the one who has to do something."
"How? I'm awaiting trial and probable execution, remember?"
"I can help you. The ship will be passing through an area that will cause electrical interference in about an hour. The guards at your cell will change shifts at 1900 hours. Right now, your cell's barrier is wired to energy compensators to prevent you from absorbing the energy and escaping. At exactly 19:13, a program I'm going to run will shut down the compensator, making it look like the effects of the interference. You'll only have a three minute window to act. You have to absorb the barrier and steal a fighter ship."
"How exactly am I going to manage that unarmed?"
"You'll think of something. You're Samus Aran and the last Metroid. You won't have a problem escaping."
The guards reentered the detention area.
"I have to go," Hildebrandt whispered. "Good luck. 19:13, remember."
I nodded and sat back down to wait. It was 17:53 at the moment. My window of escape was just over an hour away. The plan was insane. Not to mention all Hildebrandt was putting on the line to help me. I promised myself that I'd get away and stop the SA-X before it was too late.