This chapter marks a temporary but very real shift in the story. I felt is was absolutely necessary to include the "trapped on an empty planet" cliche (or else it wouldn't feel like a real Metroid story) but it will not absorb the entire story by any means.

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Chapter 4: Puzzle Pieces

Just as Samus was beginning to consider turning back and exploring in another direction, she spotted something on the horizon. It was small and low to the ground, but against the blank landscape it stood out like a sore thumb. Picking up her pace, Samus began to jog lightly in that direction. Anything was a welcome change from the endless monotony.

Reaching the object, Samus discovered to her mild surprise that it was a person. They were lying face down, as if they had collapsed there and remained. Briefly Samus considered the situation, standing over the body. Why would another person be here? Was it possible they were still alive? Switching visor modes, Samus discovered there was yet heat emanating from the body. In an environment this cold that could only mean they were still alive.

Bending down beside the body, Samus rolled it over to face the sky. Obviously, they were unconscious, and in bad condition. He was a young man, probably about her age. Horrible burns covered his body, undoubtedly gained coming through the atmosphere. His clothes were scorched, but had been loose black pants and a white shirt. Black locks hung about his face, covered in dust. As a disinterested observer (as only years of apathy can create), Samus noted he was pretty good-looking.

Was it possible someone else survived? One of the scientists might have also gotten off the ship, or never been on it. It was reasonable to believe that one of them could have reached an escape pod as well. A better question was who he was. Of course, all of that was irrelevant if he died.

Hoisting him up onto her shoulder, Samus carried the limp body back to the escape pod. There, at least, he might have a shot at making it. Though she was hardly an expert in the field, Samus knew a few things about medicine, and could probably use what the escape pod had on hand to help him a bit. Then again, two mouths to feed meant only half the survival time. In the end, Samus decided to let fate make the decision. It wasn't her right to determine the fate of a human life. Not, at least, like this.

.

Gently setting him down on the floor of the escape pod, Samus moved to the storage cabinets. Fortunately, they'd remained entirely intact. She would have preferred the engine remain intact any day, but she'd take what she could get. Gathering what she needed, Samus moved back to her strange new arrival. Bending beside him, Samus shifted her arms to a different mode, guns separating and pulling away to allow her hands to be free.

Taking off his shirt, Samus administered salve to his wounds. He had been burned pretty badly, though it didn't appear that he had any internal damage. While that was good, it'd probably leave a lot of scar tissue, if it healed at all. She was unlikely to need any of these medical supplies, however, so it was just as well to use them now.

Wrapping bandages around his arm and chest, Samus pinned them together and called it good. At the moment, that was about all she could do, other than keep him inside the escape pod. It was bitterly cold out there; she didn't know how he had survived even as long as he had.

Searching back into her memory, Samus struggled to identify him with one of the group of scientists, but failed to do so. In fact, she couldn't seem to remember him from anywhere, though that was to be expected. Somehow, though, she would have thought she had to have seen him at some point.

A new thought occurred to her. Could he possibly be from the space station itself, not the team of scientists sent there? That would explain how he had gotten access to an escape pod, and why she didn't recognize him. How he had survived she wasn't sure, but that was a more likely theory than any other she had come up with.

Turning, Samus left the escape pod, going back into the whirling sands. The hatch closed behind her, plunging the room into darkness.

.

Sitting back in the chair at the cockpit of the escape pod, Samus merely watched her comatose visitor. He hadn't moved at all since she had brought him in, several days ago. Still, he hadn't shown any bad signs, either. Actually, he was healing at pretty fast rate, and most of his burns were gone now. She hoped there wasn't internal damage that she couldn't see.

In these few days Samus had searched the entire area around for a few kilometers, and now had a rough map of it stored within her bio suit's memory. There was very little around them, as they appeared to be in this planet's equivalent of a desert. She had found what appeared to be a cavernous area, but she didn't want to enter it unless she had to. Not until she didn't have to check on her patient, at least.

Samus glanced at him from over her lightly touching fingers. Now that she had nothing else to explore, she had little else to do. That, and speculate as to where he had came from. She had thought up dozens of theories in these few days, some of them quite irrational and ridiculous.

Foremost on her list was still the theory that he was a scientist from the station. Almost everything made sense in that context. Then again, Samus acknowledged she might favor that theory because it would benefit her the most. If it were so, he could explain to her what exactly was going on. For that matter, he could probably help her get off this mudball. So perhaps it was merely wishful thinking. There were facts that contradicted her thoughts; for example: he was built more like a fighter than a scientist, and most scientists would have died almost immediately in such a harsh environment.

Such speculation was irrelevant, but it provided Samus with a bit of amusement. Temporarily bored with such things, she began fiddling with modes of her visor, seeing how the world looked through different eyes. By this point her suit had repaired itself, and all systems were back online.

His life signs were stronger, and he was generating a lot more heat than he originally had when she had found him. Just by habit, Samus switched to Darklight mode, and was surprised at what she saw. The entire escape pod had low levels of contamination, but all of his body glowed a soft green. Raising an eyebrow, Samus returned to her normal mode of vision.

Did that mean he was saturated by nega-photon radiation? Was that sort of thing lethal? It actually fit very well with her theory: anyone who worked in such a laboratory would have been exposed. Then again, he seemed to have especially high levels.

Shrugging, Samus got to her feet. She was getting tired of sitting around, and desperately needed to do something. Leaving the ship, she left him again in darkness.

.

One day as Samus sat observing, as had become routine, she thought she saw a flicker of movement. Blinking, she looked again, and saw nothing. Suspicious, however, Samus watched closer, rising to her feet and constructing the gun around her right hand. There was a long moment of silence, then his eyes flickered open.

They were an intense, pure blue. She'd always wondered what color of eyes he had, as they'd been closed ever since she first met him. Those eyes focused on her, and with a cry he propelled himself back, where he slammed into the opposite wall. The impact obviously pained him, as he gasped just slightly, like a person who was fighting not to scream.

"Calm down!" Samus ordered. "I'm not going to hurt you!"

For a moment he looked like a cornered animal, then some amount of reason became evident in his expression. Eventually his muscles relaxed, and he nodded slowly.

"Who..." his voice cracked, having not been used in some time. Coughing briefly, he tried again. "Who are you?"

"Samus Aran." Might as well be truthful about it now. If he was a jerk and she had to shoot him, well, best get it over with. He merely paused, nodding slightly, then began to glance around the inside of the escape pod.

"You... saved my life?"

"You were in a bad way," Samus said by way of answer. "I found you badly burned and nearly dead out in the wastes, then got you here. You've actually recovered more quickly than I expected."

"Where are we?"

"Big planet I don't know the name of. The one the station was orbiting."

"Oh!" His eyes widened suddenly. They glistened slightly sadly as memories returned. "The station... I take it the Power Core got destroyed by something?"

Blinking slightly, Samus nodded. He was a quick one.

"But why are you here?" he asked. Samus raised a hand.

"Just one second. I'm not answering any of your questions until I find out a bit about you. Who exactly are you and why are you here?"

"I'm in no position to demand," he answered tentatively, "but could I have something to eat?"

"Oh... right. You're probably thirsty as h, too. Yeah, I'll get you something." i Pretty inconsiderate of you, /i Samus told herself, getting a few rations and a water canteen and tossing them down to him. Gratefully he opened them, consuming the contents at a measured rate.

"My name is Tal," he said between bites. "I haven't ever done anything important so I don't know why you'd know me. I guess you could call me a scientist of sorts, though I'm no professional."

"How is that?" Samus asked, pulse quickening just slightly. Could he really be from the station? Could her questions finally get answered?

"I grew up entirely around scientists, so I picked up a few things. But I'd rather not talk about that."

"I understand." She understood all too well about not wanting to get into the past. "But how did you get here?"

"I was on the space station for another reason," he answered, first taking a long drink of water. "That was when everything got chaotic. You detonated the core, at least I assume it was you, and I recognized the station was going to implode and got away. Entry to the atmosphere did a lot of damage to me and you know the rest of the story."

"I see." So he had nothing to do with them. She wasn't sure if she should be happy or disappointed about that.

"You aren't associated with that science station, are you?" Tal asked. Samus quickly shook her head.

"I was hired to protect a group of scientists investigating the station, nothing more. To be honest, I have a lot of questions for them."

"I know what you mean." For a second Tal closed his eyes, as if remembering things he didn't want to. When he opened them he sat back, apparently sated after finishing the rations. "What's our current situation?" he asked, running a hand through his dark black locks. Now that he was healthy, their luster had returned.

"Well, we're marooned on a desolate planet. The escape pod I used to get here will never fly again, though it's still mostly intact. I'm using the radio to transmit an SOS signal, but I'm not too sure it will reach anyone, if anyone would even care enough to stop."

"I see." Getting to his feet, Tal glanced around for his shirt and put it on when he found it. "I want to see the damage to the ship for myself."

"Alright. I'll warn you, it's cold."

"I'm used to it," Tal responded. Shrugging, Samus opened the hatch, letting the chill winds sweep into the escape pod. Tal quickly exited, and Samus was right behind him.

i What are you, crazy? /i she asked herself. i You're already somewhat trusting this guy, and yet you've barely known him for a few minutes. And none of the time he was unconscious counts. /i Still, Samus got the feeling she could trust Tal. He seemed too simple to lie about things. That didn't mean she wouldn't watch her back, but still.

Reaching the back of the ship and bending down, Tal ran a critical eye over the damage. Samus remained standing behind him, interested in what he would observe. This might say a lot about him. Eventually Tal shook his head and returned to his feet.

"You're right, this won't fly again. Your energy couplets burnt out, and most of the difriblia cords were trashed when you struck the planet."

"Are you a mechanic or something?" Samus asked. She knew what he was talking about, but never would she have casually made those observations.

"Like I said, I grew up around scientists. I'm used to technology. So, what are we going to do?"

"I'm not sure," Samus answered truthfully. "I was kind of hoping another ship would come or we could find a way off."

"Ah." Tal paused for a moment, closing his eyes to think. "We might be able to repair some of the ship. If we removed the last portion, we could probably make something stable enough to fly us to the nearest point of civilization. Then again, there are some parts I don't think I can jury rig."

"Do you think there's any hope?" Samus asked, trusting his judgement. Perhaps saving his life would benefit her after all.

"Perhaps. Before falling unconscious after I landed, I thought I saw the ruins of a place that might have formerly been inhabited. When we need some more advanced parts, we might try to check it out."

"Where was it?"

"I'm not sure how far I got. Quite some distance in the direction you found me."

"I see. Want to give it a shot?"

Smiling just slightly, Tal nodded. "Let's do it."

.

Looking around the inside of the escape pod, Samus zeroed in on the storage unit and began rooting through everything within. It had to be in here somewhere. At least she hoped it was. If it was anywhere, it would probably be in the storage unit. Finally Samus found a box of tools, and took it out, quickly looking through the contents.

"A sprite jack," she muttered to herself, "what's a sprite jack?" Though it wasn't a tool she had ever heard of, Samus knew enough about spaceship repair to make an educated guess. Taking a small tool that looked like a tuning fork on technological steroids from the box, Samus turned to leave the escape pod.

Tal had proven to be an incredible asset. While Samus possessed no small amount of technical skill, Tal worked as one who knew technology very well. Their areas of expertise were separate but complementary. The more optimistic part of Samus thought it possible they might get this heap of trash to fly.

Emerging from the hatch, Samus walked around to the back of the ship, where Tal was busily working at the wiring within. The fierce wind whipped his clothing about him violently, but Tal ignored it. She wondered how he stood the cold. From her bio suit's scans, she knew that he was freezing cold, yet he didn't ever mention it. Quite a high pain threshold, for a scientist. By large, she'd found scientists were a weak lot; but Tal didn't quite fit into that category.

"Is this it?" she asked. Glancing up, Tal took the sprite jack and nodded.

"Right."

Bending down near the side of the ship, Samus continued working as she had before. Opening a panel of the stabilizing engine, Samus picked up where she had left off trying to reconnect the burnt connection cables. It was difficult, but Tal was a master of finding unnecessary parts and using them elsewhere. At the moment she had enough wiring to do the job.

"How does it look?" Samus asked, continuing to work.

"A bit worse than I thought," Tal answered, as blatantly truthful as always. "I'm not sure we have enough resources to do the job. In any case, there are three parts that I really can't replace. We'll have to hope we can find the ruins of something on this planet. Everything else I think we can jury rig."

"Good."

They ceased conversation for quite some time, both working noiselessly, having nothing to say. It often went like this, and Samus was grateful. Tal seemed to be an introverted type, which meant he kept his mouth shut, a trait that worked for her just fine. Only the wind continued to howl around them. In a way, it was relaxing.

"You stated that you had been hired to help a group of scientists investigate the station," Tal spoke up. "Are you a bounty hunter?"

"What?" Samus glanced up from her work involuntarily. "I'm Samus Aran."

Looking up from his work as well, Tal returned her glance blankly.

"You don't know who I am?" He shook his head.

"My life has been... well, I wouldn't use the word sheltered, but I've been cut off from most of the galaxy. I'm clueless about just about anything other than science or technology. Am I supposed to recognize the name?"

Of course he was. There were groups of people that shivered at the mention of the name. Space pirates had been known to surrender after hearing she was working against them. Over time, the number one ranked bounty hunter had become nearly legendary.

"No," Samus answered. "Not in particular. But yeah, I'm a bounty hunter."

"I see." Tal worked in silence a bit longer, but she could tell he was merely rearranging his thoughts. "Why did they hire you?"

"They lost contact with the research station, and they weren't sure what happened. They wanted protection for a team of scientists to examine the situation, and I've worked with them before. Why do you ask?"

"No reason in particular."

"You never did explain what your exact connection is to the research station. I have a lot of questions, and I'd like some answers."

"I'm not sure I can help you," Tal answered. "I'm still not sure I know what's going on. But I probably know a few things you don't."

"Good. Maybe between the two of us we actually know something."

"From what I've been able to determine, they were working on a variety of genetics experiments. It involved combining human DNA with-"

"Wait a second," Samus interjected. "How could they get away with that? The galaxy would be in an uproar. They barely let a law about the most minor DNA tampering pass a few years ago."

"Had you ever heard about this project before your mission?"

"Well... no." So that was how it was.

"The experiment is known as Project Darklight. Every detail surrounding it was considered top secret, a very limited few in the galaxy even heard rumors of its existence. Someone, I don't know who, had a lot of money and set this up without public knowledge. I'm not sure they had any kind of authorization."

"How do you know this?" Samus asked, believing him yet still a bit suspicious. Tal closed his eyes, pausing and collecting his thoughts.

"As I said, I grew up around scientists. I don't know who they were, but I know they were very high up in scientific communities. I've been on one of the other stations."

"Other stations?" Samus' eyes narrowed, but then softened. "I should stop interrupting and let you explain. Carry on."

"As nearly as I can tell, there were three research stations that took part in Project Darklight. They were named Emerald, Ruby and Sapphire, and each was performing similar experiments, though they shared technical data. What you just destroyed was Station Sapphire, the leader of the three."

"So now there are only two?"

"One." Tal paused again, continuing to fiddle with the panel before him. "A terrible... accident happened on Station Ruby. It was destroyed some time ago."

"Accident?" Samus probed.

"Listen," Tal sighed heavily. "That was the station I was at before. I'd rather not talk about it, okay?"

"Alright." Samus let the issue pass. She wondered exactly what had happened, but decided that such information was best left with Tal. Unless it became necessary for her to know it, of course. But she could understand issues from the past.

"One thing I haven't been able to figure out," Tal continued, "and it's really getting under my skin. Why is it called Project Darklight? I've heard the word used a few times, but it was far more high-level than I was allowed to hear. I would assume that a material of some sort, but I haven't been able to find out what."

"Before we went to the station, I was given something they called a Darklight Scope," Samus explained. "They say the experiments onboard involved a chemical that they didn't name. In any case, the chemical radiates nega-photons, and that's what the Darklight Scope is supposed to pick up."

"I see." Tal paled slightly. Samus took a deep breath, then pressed forward.

"I'm sorry. I've been meaning to tell you this, but I haven't had the nerve. The Darklight Scope registers that you're completely saturated in nega-photon energy. I'm not sure what exactly that will do... but I'm afraid it might result in your death."

"I see," Tal repeated slowly. "Well, there's nothing I can do to change that. Don't worry about me, trust me on this one."

"That's probably the safest attitude to have." A crazy attitude, though. Not many looked death in the face and shrugged.

They continued working in silence. Around them, the wind slowly picked up.