"Apparently, Gerald Hamboski was killed in the attack on their secret base and Jerome left on a small raft, presumably lost at sea," Rista read aloud from the report. "After a month of interrogating this guy, the Feds have closed the case."

"You sound annoyed," Samus noted, picking up the file to read for herself. A low growl emitted from the back of Rista's throat. "We've been paid. We have no reason to be concerned with this case any longer."

"I'm not annoyed," Rista snapped. Samus rolled her eyes in a discreet fashion; Rista had been on edge ever since they found Karl Hamboski. "Well, maybe a little- frustrated is more like it. Darryl is threatening me. He's playing some sort of sick game with me, and I don't like that. Maliiv? I don't hang out with any Maliivs."

"Drop it already. There's been no mention of anything so far," Samus said. "And is a maliiv really that bad?" Rista sighed.

"You wouldn't understand."

"You're right; I don't." Rista paced through the kitchen of their apartment. She pulled and twisted her hair around her finger, tsking under her breath as she tried to figure it all out. Samus watched her for a moment, and then left the room. As she did so, the phone rang. She picked it up.

"Who is this?" She asked. It was the typical greeting she used over the phone, since she could never be sure of whom it was.

"Hey, it's Colleen," The familiar voice spoke. "How's it going?" Perhaps it was just Samus' imagination but her voice quivered slightly. Samus had not spoken to Colleen since before the Hamboski incident, and she could tell that sometime was wrong…no, no. Samus quickly shook it off.

"Everything's fine," She said platonically. She glanced quickly into the kitchen to see Rista still marching in the kitchen. She zipped into her bedroom, the receiver in hand, and shut the door so that her sister would not overhear everything. "Except for one thing." She filled Colleen in on all the events surrounding the capture of Karl and what he had told Rista.

"Do have any idea about this maliiv or can tell me exactly what one is?" Samus asked. "I still don't understand all of it."

"In a way, I'm a maliiv," Colleen said hesitantly. "In fact, that's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about." This was confusing Samus even more. The logical, intelligent woman was befuddled over everything that was going on. Sometimes, she felt like she was the last to know everything, mainly because everyone else had their dark secrets that were potentially fatal while she just had nice, safe shady secrets.

"What? But wait, you can't be the one…he said it was a man," Samus said, trying to make sense of it but utterly failing.

"I'm not the one he's talking about," Colleen assured her. "I haven't even been officially branded one. I have been in contact with the person that I believe is the maliiv Darryl is speaking about. It's just a hunch really. He goes by an assumed name now; I only know what his old identity is."

"Wait, go back to the part where you are a maliiv and start there," Samus demanded. "None of these keeping secrets is going to help us. Rista is keeping something from me; I know it. You are beating around the bush. We can't put the picture together until we have all the pieces, and so far, most of them are being kept locked into the dark corners of everyone's minds."

"I agree, one hundred percent," Colleen said. "And that's why I want to come clean to you. I have something to confess. Samus, your father wasn't-" Static erupted over the line. Samus held the phone away from her ear. When it stopped, she listened in again, but there was no sound, not even the dial tone. The screen on it showed that it had full battery; so, what was going on?

"Rista," She said as she walked out. "I think the phone line went dead."

"Went dead?" Rista snatched the receiver out of Samus' hand and tried dialing a number. Nothing. She set it down on the kitchen counter and sighed. "It didn't just go dead. Someone is blocking it." Their telephones did not rely on wires anymore; the main reception unit would have to break down in order for the line to be silent. Moreover, with the recent technology, that rarely happened.

The two women rushed outside where the unit was at the base of their tenant. Samus at first believed that the crappy, out-of-date unit just stopped functioning, but she soon changed her mind when she saw the pale, yellow metal container smashed and sparking.

"I knew it," Rista hissed. "Darryl sent someone here as a warning."

"How do you know it was him." Rista glared at Samus.

"Because I do," Rista said slowly, pronouncing every word. "I've seen him do it before. His warnings are subtle and few. This was definitely him. He's been tracking me; oh, I know it. He's-" Samus placed a firm hand on Rista's shoulder. Rista tried to twist away from her grip but to no avail.

"Relax. Geez, you've turned into an obsessive freak over this," Samus said. "Calm down. Panicking is not going to help us." She crossed her arms. "Neither will keeping secrets."

"Excuse me? You think I'm keeping something from you?" Rista sounded incredulous and slightly hurt. Samus shook her head.

"That's…not what I meant," She said. She informed Rista of her conversation with Colleen and how it ended abruptly. Rista bit her lip.

"I see; Colleen is the one the hiding something," Rista said after Samus finished. "I've always suspected it, but I'm the kind of person that believes prying into other people's private affairs is a sin." Samus rolled her eyes, knowing that remark was aimed at her. "But this involves us, and I'd kind of would like to know just how."

They reentered the building and went up the elevator. Hardly a word was spoken between them. They were not needed. Both of them had realized that their ignorance on such a subject was likely deadly.

Rista was the first to reach their door. She pressed the entry button, but it did not slid open. She glanced over at the keypad; the word LOCKED blinked at her in ominous red letters.

"Samus, why did you lock the door," She groaned.

"What do you mean? I didn't lock it. We were only out for a second," Samus defended herself.

"Well, surely you have a key because in order for it to be locked it had-" Rista stopped dead. They exchanged glances, having reached at the same conclusion. Rista said it anyways, just to confirm the fact. "Someone is in there."

---

Roughly translated, the accounts of the confirmation meeting for Project Nevaria were as followed. It took place at the Turin Space Pirate base at three o' clock on the eighth of September. The attendees were General Urik, Elite Commander Queskt and Private Virert, who were reporting a message to his superiors.

"The shipment has arrived, sirs," He announced sharply with a bow. Queskt nodded, and Urik smirked, the hideous smile twisting on his face.

"Very good," Urik drawled. "I say we test our new weapon as soon as possible."

"Let's not get too hasty," Queskt said critically. "This was not Pirate made. We cannot trust it so soon. Let's put it up against some of our new recruits first, just to see the fire power."

"The weapon is not half of it," Urik said. "The beauty of it is what will snare them. If you could call a human beautiful." He chortled to himself.

"Fine, we need someone who would recognize it," Queskt agreed. "Private, find out who is available to confirm the likeness of the Project."

"We already know of one, sir," He said. "His name is Thomas Miller."

Author's Note: ) Come on, every thing must make sense now…Yeah right. Though I wouldn't be surprised if one of you guessed it. Remember, no reviews means no updates, so review!

Previous disclaimers applies.