Chapter Three: Resurrection

"I'm telling you, it will work!" this from one white-suited scientist among many. Their leader, the chief medical officer of the station, one Akima Sen, walked rapidly towards them. "What will work?" The lizard-like man (he hated the term 'alien', but had learned to put up with it when working with humans) slowly blinked and stared at the one who had spoken, a doctor whose name escaped him. "Ah, Dr. Sen. Look at this." He tapped a few buttons on the nearest console, and a large image appeared, a sample from Samus that was infested with "X parasites", as the doctors had started calling them. "The interesting thing about the X cells is that apart from a very, very basic genetic code, one that can be restructured, they're basically pure energy held in a plasma state." Sen did something with his mouth, a facial expression common to his species, something that came very close to being categorized as a frown. "Yes, I know that. I discovered that. So what?" He brought up a second image, a simulation screen showing the same thing. "So I've found a kind of antidote. Another kind of cell that seems tailor made for this." As he tapped a button, small blue cells entered the bloodstream from the right of the image, and swarmed towards the large yellow blobs. A number of blue cells were absorbed into the blobs, the same way the red blood cells were being killed, but the large yellow blobs – the X – would shiver, and collapse in on themselves, soon becoming nothing more than harmless gelatin that would make its way to the stomach and dissolve, leaving the blue cells perfectly healthy. Then the mysterious blue cells left the screen, which was now totally devoid of X. Sen nodded and did something that was almost an impressed smile. "Amazing! What is this antidote? I'm guessing it's unconventional, or we'd have already found it." The scientist looked somewhat embarrassed. "It's… definitely unconventional, sir. Those blue cells… are Metroid DNA."

"You see, senator, it seems that Metroids were perfectly designed to absorb energy." Several days after the doctor's discovery, Sen stood in Billing's office, trying to get the man to see things his way. "Not only could they remove life energy from anything unfortunate enough for them to catch, but their very cells could store energy from victims, making the entire Metroid's body one large battery. Since the X are almost pure energy, they are the ideal prey for Metroids. Since we've never encountered them before, I'll have to assume they're a recent mutation. Too bad. It would have been interesting to see the two species interact." Billings shook his head. "Doctor, this is all fascinating, but what the hell good does it do us? Remember, our patient made the species in question extinct a while ago. Personally, I find the irony almost funny." Sen nodded. "I expected that, sir. We were unable to recover much from Ceres station after Ridley destroyed it, but we did find one thing of important note: A cellular sample from the last Metroid." Billings' eyebrows rose, though in reality he, too, had been expecting this… just for a different reason.

"Senator Billings, give the word, and we'll inject Samus Aran with enough Metroid DNA to satisfy the simulator's requirements. Keep in mind, that while it is your decision, it being a new treatment, in my medical opinion, if we don't do this, she will die."

The senator frowned, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Very well. As much as I would to let her die, she's much more useful to me alive. And we don't have to let her know what we're doing with her armour. No, make sure she doesn't find out about that at all." Billings smiled, and though Sen wasn't totally fluent with human facial expressions, he knew enough to be unnerved by the senator's grin.

Samus swung the short staff around and around, switching it from hand to hand, tossing it around her body almost randomly, lashing out in front of her, striking the training dummy each time. She heard someone walk into the room behind her, and spun round, leaving the end of the branch mere inches from the intruder's face. It was the Chozo Elder, the very one who had saved her from the ruins of 2KL six years ago. He seemed unsurprised at her feigned attack, though she had tried not to let her movements betray what she was about to do.

"Hello, little one." As always, the Elder's voice carried a strong inhuman accent in its english words. "I see you've been training with the stave again. You are quite good at it." Samus smiled. "Thanks. I've been trying extra hard, ever since Reedoran beat me in the competition last month. Had it been last month? It seemed so long ago… She shook off the déjà vu and frowned. "Wise one, why am I training with physical weapons? I've been told that the Power Suit of the Warrior uses an energy laser like the humans' rifles do." The Elder put a hand, three fingers and a thumb, on her shoulder. "First of all, small one, always remember, you are human. They may be a young race, and we may seem superior to you, but you should be as proud of your human blood as you are of your Chozo upbringing. Second, the mind is a powerful tool. Training with melee weapons hones your hand-to-eye coordination, and your agility. Finally, the Warrior's suit doesn't use lasers, it uses beam weaponry." He made the facial expression Samus had quickly come to associate with happiness. It was what a smile looked like when performed with a beak. "And besides. You are only twelve. How can we be sure you are really the next Warrior? Hmm? The day you turn 18, we will make you strong, and put you through the Warrior's test. But until then, you must focus on your –" Samus interrupted him. "Studies… Elder, we've had this conversation before, haven't we?" The old Chozo 'smiled' and nodded. "Yes, child, more than a decade ago. You haven't been twelve for a very long time. And If I remember correctly, you haven't picked up a stave in almost two years."

As her memories slowly started coming back, Samus wasn't totally surprised. Though she hadn't actually seen him or heard his voice since the day she left her home on Zebes, every once in a while, the Chozo Elder would visit her in her dreams, telepathically. She wasn't even sure he was still alive anymore. She had seen physical proof that Chozo really could move on to another stage of life, which wasn't quite death. Just… different.

Something this time, however, felt wrong. She looked down at herself. She was short, stocky, and built like a young boy. That's what it was! "Elder, why am I twelve?" The Elder looked at her in that strange way that indicated he knew all about her. "Because this is an important memory for you, the day when you finally admitted that being human wasn't a handicap." Samus blinked. "For the record, Reminding me to get back on my studies is a really shallow reason for contacting me. I assume there's something more important here?"

"Yes, hatchling. Samus, you are in a coma."

Samus dropped the stave, heard it clatter to the hard stone floor. "A coma! Why, what happened? I don't… remember…" The Elder shook his head. "That does not matter. What does matter is this. Very soon, you will have to face your greatest challenge ever. It will tax you more than this endless feud with Ridley, and require you to operate at 100 of your 'efficiency'. Promise me you will do your best, Samus. Promise me."

Samus was worried. The Elder, probably beyond the physical reality by this point, never seemed this… afraid. If it bothered him that much, it probably would be her greatest challenge. But she was Samus Aran, the Chozo Warrior, and she would not let anything bring her down. "Elder, I promise I will not fail, no matter what the danger is." The Elder smiled a little. "Thank you, hatchling. I must go now. Until we meet again, in this world, or the next."

Then things started to turn dark, the training chamber, the staff on the ground, the Elder himself, even Samus' twelve-year-old body. Soon everything was dark – but not for long. Samus felt herself lying on a table, and felt that she was in her armour. But something was wrong. It wasn't weighted right. And she didn't hear the telltale hums and whirrs that told her that the armour's personal systems were running. She slowly opened her eyes – to see someone bending over her! She grabbed upwards, heard a grunt of pain –

and came to, to see a hospital operating table, a doctor in extreme pain with his hand caught in the iron grip of… what was left of her left hand's gauntlet. They had gutted her armour! It didn't look right at all! Wires poked out everywhere, whole sections of plating were gone, and her HUD was missing. There was no way it would be able to operate in vacuum, and she wasn't sure her arm cannon would fire, though she seriously doubted that the doctors and such would enjoy watching her test it out. As another doctor got on the comm. line to tell whoever was on the other end that Samus was conscious, she shook her head in disbelief. "Someone's gonna pay for this. And I have a lot of work to do to repair it."