Disclaimer: I do not own Metroid.
Author's Note: Whoo, once I get this chapter out of the way, I can finally introduce some action. This is a very important part though, so keep your eyes open. Without further ado, enjoy!
"Do you think I'm crazy?" Thomas' question caught Terry off guard. It was three in the morning where she was, and he had rung up. Without even a "hey there" or "hello", he asked this question, quickly and anxiously. She could almost hear him sweat over the phone, the way he got when he was nervous.
"I was married to you for nine years, of course I think you're crazy," She mumbled into the receiver. "Do you know what time it is he-"
"Seriously." Terry sighed.
"What is this about?"
"I think I am losing my mind," He told her. She rolled her eyes.
"I kind of picked that up," She muttered. With her free hand, she flipped on her bedside light and rubbed her eyes.
"I met a woman today," He finally said after a long pause. "In her mid-thirties maybe. Said her name was Rista Nevaria." This caught Terry's interest. She perked up a little, sitting up a little straighter, as if that would help her hear the news any better. "I ran into her at the bakery. She looked like-well, nevermind," His voice trailed off.
"What is it?" Terry demanded. "Tell me."
"Anyways, later a woman came to my hotel room, and she claimed her name was Samus Aran." Terry stopped breathing for a moment. Thomas had hesitated on the name.
"You're joking," Terry said, quite gravely.
"No, I'm not," He snapped right back.
"It's a coincidence." She said it to confirm it more to herself than her ex-husband.
"That would be one hell of a coincidence then," Thomas said, scratching the back of his head.
"Well, I don't care," Terry snapped. "They're not my problem, and nor are they yours anymore. Forget about it."
"I can't get used to the fact that they just might be alive out there," Thomas retorted. "These are Miranna's and Eric's kids. They were supposed to have died. They were the reason everyone else did. I gave up everything because Bill's plan was supposed to work, then he lied to me, and killed them all! Everyone. I helped him. I'm responsible for all those deaths. The Nevarias and Arans were supposed to be no more. Can you get used the fact that one more thing in our lives has gone so wrong?" There was a pause on the other end.
"I got used to calling you Tommy, didn't I?" She spoke quietly. They both sat there in silence for a few moments. Then Thomas spoke up, changing the subject entirely.
"I'm coming back tomorrow," He said.
"Why? I thought you were there until Thursday."
"I was, but someone broke into your house, and I want to be there for you," He said.
"Tommy, you're not obliged to do that anymore," Terry told him. "I know you still about my well-being, but you have work, and I have an aching suspicion that you are just leaving to get away from these girls."
"No, I was going to leave the second I heard the news," He claimed. "I finished most of my business, anyways. Everyone else can contact me at my office back home. Tell me, is anything missing?"
"The only things I couldn't find were some old photographs from the old days," Terry spoke. "And I just probably misplaced last week when I was cleaning and didn't realize it until now."
"Which ones were they?"
"Just one of Miranna, and there was one of Miranna, Eric and us," She said. "That was all." Thomas clicked his tongue.
"Strange," He drifted off. "You know that Samus girl mentioned a Project Nevaria."
"Should I care?"
"No, but I should." He hung up the phone, leaving Terry alone in the night. She rolled her eyes and clicked it off before turning off her light and slipping back under the covers. She was over all that now. It was all behind her. She wouldn't care, nor should she.
Though she didn't care, something about it still intrigued her.
Rista stared at it, long and hard. Just a little scrap of white paper with a whole bunch of numbers scribbled on it. She recognized it as the contact code for the Kernomen Underground Hideout, a club of which she was familiar with many of the members. The code only worked on one of their specialized Receiver pads.
Rista was only in possession of an older, low-tech model, but it still was able to resist tracking of any sort in the Galaxy, and it would be ample communication. With a sighed, she retrieved it out of her room. She never told Samus she had one; those in the Kernomen were always villains and always on the run. She had a feeling, though, that Samus would not be too surprised by it should she find out.
Rista switched it, letting the green screen flicker back onto life after so long. It was dusty and slow, but Rista had all the time in the world. She was dreading what she had to do, scared and fearful, apprehensive and anxious. She breathed to calm herself, although it did little good in her current situation.
"Relax," She muttered to herself. "Darryl will take this fine."
On the left hand corner of the screen was a tiny-code bar. Rista picked up the stylus and tapped in the contact code. After what seemed like forever, the code processed successfully, and on the main screen, a few scrawled words popped up.
Communicating #:
Rista entered the number that Darryl was hiding under. 5012. Same as it had always been. Gordie had slipped her the number, and Rista knew that he had gone through a ton of trouble to obtain it. Darryl had long ago ditched the Kernomen, vowing never to return to it again for reasons unknown. It was neither Rista's nor Gordies's first guess at his location, and to find someone that would freely give tell them who and where a Kernomen member was is impossible in their constant world of fear and blackmail.
Enter Name:
It was a trick. Always a trick. Rista never used her real name; only her codename.
Kommited2Life5012: Rista, it's been a while. The words danced across the screen, making the butterflies in her stomach centuple. Hands shaking, she tapped in her response.
Kommited2Life: Yep. She paused. There was no immediate reply from him; so, she added more. I have some urgent business to discuss with you.
5012: Don't be so formal with me. Come on, tell me what's on your mind. Rista took the plunge.
Kommited2Life: Remember the sister you always knew I had but I never told you about?
5012: Yeah. Why?
Kommited2Life: Turns out she's actually alive and well.
5012: That's nice. She knew he was not very enthusiastic about such news, and if he were speaking the words, they would be spoken with complete and utter apathy.
Kommited2Life: Oh yeah, and she's a bounty hunter. Rista shut her eyes and cringed. She expected the Receiver pad to blow up in her hands. Instead, Darryl just logged out. He probably took it as a bad joke, but Rista could not be too sure. She set the pad down and took a deep breath.
At least now, if she ran into him with Samus, he couldn't say she never warned him.
Author's Note: You know the drill. REVIEW OR ELSE I SHALL SEND THE EVIL FURRY MONKIES AFTER YOU! Except the evil furry monkies went on strike. So instead, I shall glare at you. Lemurian-Girl, signing off.