Interlude
Samus Aran, SR388, Log 42E9A
I contacted the MX266 station as soon as I landed on SR388 to request my promised men. They told me that I was already covered. They then told me that I had six men at my back. Six, not three, but six. I made a note in my log to thank Chief Norrel. The surface was completely desolate in the area around the BSL station, lacking even a single trace of the X. I proceeded to attempt a scan of the entire wreckage, but my scanner couldn't handle the vast area. Since it would be too much of a risk to fly the ship to the crash site to use its scanner, I sent for a mechanic to come and enhance the ship's scanning range. There wasn't one in the area, so I'll have to wait a few days, but he promised to bring along some better equipment as well, so I'm satisfied. Hell, there's enough whiskey on this ship to keep me for months.
Chapter V - Quaestio
Invenire sciere est; scientia vis est.
She stumbled out of the wreckage, unaware of the flesh that continued to melt off he arm. The suit had fused into her skin, leaving it permanently attached, though holes had been burnt through the arms and legs. Her wounds were deep enough that they should have shown bone, yet there was only scorched flesh. "Where am I?" she asked in its mind, formulating its first thought since the crash. The being fell to her knees, shocking pain finally coursing through her artificial veins. She let out a tensing shriek of despair, then relaxed. To the sky, she inquired, "What am I?"
Someone walked up from behind the being. "You are Samus," the someone said. "We are all Samus." She paused. "I am Aramus," she finally said. "We can call you Saar."
Without turning around, Saar nodded. Then she rose and faced Aramus. "I... am human?"
Aramus smiled. "I see your memory is returning," she replied. "Yes, and no. The matter is complicated."
"We are the same?"
"As a species, yes. But we are and are not the same being. Come with us," Aramus made the pronoun plural by motioning to the three suited humans behind her. "I shall explain all as well as I can."
"They gave me orders to assist you in your mission," the mechanic explained to Samus. "I won't purposely be a burden, but you'll have to let me know if I do something wrong."
Samus shook her head. Concentrating on installing missiles that the mechanic had brought, she replied, "You're but a child. I'll tell you right now that you're wrong in coming with me."
The boy sighed. "I'm more help than you give me credit for, lady."
The mechanic smiled as Samus stopped loading missiles and gave him a blank stare. "What was your name again?"
"Eric." He paused dramatically, but Samus's stoic expression did not falter. "Eric Malkovich."
The hunter allowed a small smile to form in the corner of her mouth. "Well, Eric," she said, "I think it's time we scan the station."
Four hours later, after a lengthy discussion concerning Adam father, the scan was complete. "Well, let's look here," suggested Eric. He sat himself comfortable before the computer and raised the chair so that he could point at the large monitor. Samus stood next to him, looking over the red dots and white lines as if she understood them.
"The red dots are X?" she asked.
Malkovich nodded. "And the white lines are the boundaries of solid objects. It's great technology, just don't ask me how it works."
Samus smiled, but Eric couldn't see beneath her helmet. "There aren't very many of them." She thought for a moment. "Could you scan generally for life forms?"
"Sure thing, lady." Eric typed in some complicated codes on the keyboard (though he only needed to press one button, but Samus didn't know that, and he had a reputation to gain) and brought up a new map. "Now the dots show anything that eats and reproduces."
"Still not very many. We should try--"
"What was that?" Eric nearly shouted. His head had moved close enough to the screen that his nose touched it, and his eyes were wider than normal.
Samus, not knowing what he meant, said simply, "Did you see something?"
"Yes," he replied. "There was a moving dot right at the bottom of the screen. I'll try a depth scan." After Eric typed in more of his complicated codes (these were, in fact, necessary) the screen went from displaying the station ruins to showing a vast cavern with several tunnels running off it to the surface. The red dots had become so dense that they couldn't be discerned individually. "Dear lord," said Eric, his jaw refusing to close.
Samus stood perfectly still, her eyes following the swarm of redness. "Type scan."
Eric nodded, understanding precisely what she meant. The red dots slowly took shape and color.
The small swarm was purple. The larger swarm surrounding it was green and red.
Pirates. Metroids. And above it all, several SA-X.
During her mission on the B.S.L station, Samus learned a deadly fact about the X: they gained the knowledge, memories, and intelligence of their host. This was a blessing and a curse. The creatures could thus become more powerful with their knowledge, but there was always the possibility of conflict between the X-parasite instinct and the host's thought patterns.
After the X were quarantined on SR388, scientists continued to pursue research of them. They found that the X could lie dormant in a host that they were unable to dominate, feeding off of it but not gaining control. This only appeared to happen in metroids, but due to the Space Pirates' close interactions with the species, they were also probable hosts. Since in this process an X became part of the host, instead of being an attached, seperate creature, the parasite died when the host's life ended. The find explained why Samus had not yet encountered the X: they weren't yet powerful enough to dominate a host.
After Samus eliminated the metroids, previously a large part of the SR388 ecosystem and the most resistant to X, the parasites evolved until they became powerful enough to dominate the planet.
X were lacking on SR388 because the metroids had been reintroduced, possibly with Phazon enhancements from their Space Pirate controllers. The scan's mysteries solved themselves.
Samus Aran, SR388, Log 42E9A
I contacted the MX266 station as soon as I landed on SR388 to request my promised men. They told me that I was already covered. They then told me that I had six men at my back. Six, not three, but six. I made a note in my log to thank Chief Norrel. The surface was completely desolate in the area around the BSL station, lacking even a single trace of the X. I proceeded to attempt a scan of the entire wreckage, but my scanner couldn't handle the vast area. Since it would be too much of a risk to fly the ship to the crash site to use its scanner, I sent for a mechanic to come and enhance the ship's scanning range. There wasn't one in the area, so I'll have to wait a few days, but he promised to bring along some better equipment as well, so I'm satisfied. Hell, there's enough whiskey on this ship to keep me for months.
Chapter V - Quaestio
Invenire sciere est; scientia vis est.
She stumbled out of the wreckage, unaware of the flesh that continued to melt off he arm. The suit had fused into her skin, leaving it permanently attached, though holes had been burnt through the arms and legs. Her wounds were deep enough that they should have shown bone, yet there was only scorched flesh. "Where am I?" she asked in its mind, formulating its first thought since the crash. The being fell to her knees, shocking pain finally coursing through her artificial veins. She let out a tensing shriek of despair, then relaxed. To the sky, she inquired, "What am I?"
Someone walked up from behind the being. "You are Samus," the someone said. "We are all Samus." She paused. "I am Aramus," she finally said. "We can call you Saar."
Without turning around, Saar nodded. Then she rose and faced Aramus. "I... am human?"
Aramus smiled. "I see your memory is returning," she replied. "Yes, and no. The matter is complicated."
"We are the same?"
"As a species, yes. But we are and are not the same being. Come with us," Aramus made the pronoun plural by motioning to the three suited humans behind her. "I shall explain all as well as I can."
"They gave me orders to assist you in your mission," the mechanic explained to Samus. "I won't purposely be a burden, but you'll have to let me know if I do something wrong."
Samus shook her head. Concentrating on installing missiles that the mechanic had brought, she replied, "You're but a child. I'll tell you right now that you're wrong in coming with me."
The boy sighed. "I'm more help than you give me credit for, lady."
The mechanic smiled as Samus stopped loading missiles and gave him a blank stare. "What was your name again?"
"Eric." He paused dramatically, but Samus's stoic expression did not falter. "Eric Malkovich."
The hunter allowed a small smile to form in the corner of her mouth. "Well, Eric," she said, "I think it's time we scan the station."
Four hours later, after a lengthy discussion concerning Adam father, the scan was complete. "Well, let's look here," suggested Eric. He sat himself comfortable before the computer and raised the chair so that he could point at the large monitor. Samus stood next to him, looking over the red dots and white lines as if she understood them.
"The red dots are X?" she asked.
Malkovich nodded. "And the white lines are the boundaries of solid objects. It's great technology, just don't ask me how it works."
Samus smiled, but Eric couldn't see beneath her helmet. "There aren't very many of them." She thought for a moment. "Could you scan generally for life forms?"
"Sure thing, lady." Eric typed in some complicated codes on the keyboard (though he only needed to press one button, but Samus didn't know that, and he had a reputation to gain) and brought up a new map. "Now the dots show anything that eats and reproduces."
"Still not very many. We should try--"
"What was that?" Eric nearly shouted. His head had moved close enough to the screen that his nose touched it, and his eyes were wider than normal.
Samus, not knowing what he meant, said simply, "Did you see something?"
"Yes," he replied. "There was a moving dot right at the bottom of the screen. I'll try a depth scan." After Eric typed in more of his complicated codes (these were, in fact, necessary) the screen went from displaying the station ruins to showing a vast cavern with several tunnels running off it to the surface. The red dots had become so dense that they couldn't be discerned individually. "Dear lord," said Eric, his jaw refusing to close.
Samus stood perfectly still, her eyes following the swarm of redness. "Type scan."
Eric nodded, understanding precisely what she meant. The red dots slowly took shape and color.
The small swarm was purple. The larger swarm surrounding it was green and red.
Pirates. Metroids. And above it all, several SA-X.
During her mission on the B.S.L station, Samus learned a deadly fact about the X: they gained the knowledge, memories, and intelligence of their host. This was a blessing and a curse. The creatures could thus become more powerful with their knowledge, but there was always the possibility of conflict between the X-parasite instinct and the host's thought patterns.
After the X were quarantined on SR388, scientists continued to pursue research of them. They found that the X could lie dormant in a host that they were unable to dominate, feeding off of it but not gaining control. This only appeared to happen in metroids, but due to the Space Pirates' close interactions with the species, they were also probable hosts. Since in this process an X became part of the host, instead of being an attached, seperate creature, the parasite died when the host's life ended. The find explained why Samus had not yet encountered the X: they weren't yet powerful enough to dominate a host.
After Samus eliminated the metroids, previously a large part of the SR388 ecosystem and the most resistant to X, the parasites evolved until they became powerful enough to dominate the planet.
X were lacking on SR388 because the metroids had been reintroduced, possibly with Phazon enhancements from their Space Pirate controllers. The scan's mysteries solved themselves.