CHAPTER 3
LOG ENTRY 929
I can't believe he's really alive…and evidently neither can he. That bothers me, however. How would he be fully aware of the events of the altered past and still exist within the altered future? This is all thanks to Marcusson. That is why time fugitives like him are so dangerous. I very easily could have been unmade in the process… That's something I'd rather not think about…
Now it's time to get some answers…
Lita out…
Lita followed Adam down the winding passage until they got to a massive opening. Ramps and ladders lined walls laden with holes, evidently homes to the relocated Vhazonians.
Many of them were plainly dressed in what looked like native garbs. The clothing looked like that of a tropical culture, probably harbored by the geothermal heat within the subterranean lair.
"Just over here," Adam said as he motioned to a ladder.
He allowed Lita to climb up first.
As she reached the top, she slid a curtain aside and entered the grotto. Inside was a rather expansive room for such a small entry. It included all of the amenities of the common households of yore with the exception of the range, which was powered by Vilonium.
"Would you like a beer?" Adam asked.
"Beer?" Lita asked, confused.
"Yeah, you know, that gold stuff that gets you smashed?" Adam replied, a bit stumped himself.
"I don't get it," Lita responded, still befuddled.
"You've never heard of beer? Never had any or anything in all of your time travels?" Adam tried to make sense.
"I can't say that I have…" Lita said.
"Here, try one," Adam said as he handed Lita an open bottle.
Lita examined it for a moment, then tipped the bottle up for a swig. Nearly immediately she spewed it all over the grotto.
"YEEEEEEEUUUUUUUGH! That tastes like pee!" Lita exclaimed.
"That has to be the most repulsive face I've ever seen on a woman…and that includes the Vhazonian women…" Adam stabbed.
"That has to be the most repulsive DRINK I've ever had…and that includes military ration…" Lita shot back.
"You've got me there," Adam laughed, "Now let's discuss while I clean up the mess."
Lita and Adam talked for what seemed like hours about the details of his life and the differences between "her time" and "his time". She explained to him that Samus was her lifeline as a child.
"So it was because of Samus' sacrifice that you were able to live? Curious…" Adam mulled.
"What do you mean?" Lita asked.
"Well, you realize that you're an exception to the rule of time, right?" Adam returned.
"Rule of time?" Lita tried to clarify.
"When you killed Marcusson and came back to this time, things had changed. I survived the conflict during Shattered Ice. Samus was sent on that hopeless mission and never returned…" Adam stopped.
"So I…shouldn't be here…shouldn't be alive…" Lita bowed her head.
"There must be another reason…another way for you to exist in this timeline…" Adam tried to reason.
Lita shuddered as tears fell from her eyes to the stone floor.
"A soldier shouldn't cry," Adam said sternly.
"I am a human first….not a soldier…" Lita sobbed.
Adam raised an eyebrow, then his visage softened.
"I remember those words well…"
"You…remember those words?" Lita asked.
"Samus said those words verbatim when she was under my command…but that belief waned as she became 'favored' by the higher ups," Adam explained.
"She never became a bounty hunter?" Lita probed.
"No, as much as I would have liked her to, she didn't. I never had the opportunity to discuss that with her aside from command. She would have been better suited for that. The military tends to…stifle the best skills of many people in favor of conformity and equality…" Adam explicated.
"How do you know…about "my time"? How do you know, since you are here in an alternate future?" Lita ventured.
"I found a little cube…I believe I still have it," Adam said as he rummaged through a cabinet.
When he found the cube, he handed it to Lita. When it hit her palm, it came to life with a laser image.
"I….I don't believe it…I…" Lita stammered.
The image was of Lita herself. The image proceeded to chronicle the events during Lita's hunting of Marcusson. The content, however, took a twist. This Lita had returned to an entirely different time than the one she was in currently. She had had to jump to the current time and vaccinate herself for the X-parasite while in cryo-sleep.
"That would explain my arm…" Lita muttered.
At the end of the message, Lita pleaded with Adam to show her alter-ego where to go to find the key to return things to how they should be…then fell lifeless to the floor and disappeared from the surroundings.
"The transmission continues for three more hours…but it's just that empty room. I suppose you can reason as to why that happened," Adam broke the silence.
"She…I…became nonexistent…that means…" Lita started.
"…someone is still changing the past," Adam finished.
"Well now what? Where do I go from here?" Lita asked urgently.
"I thought you'd never ask. Do you recall another signal being received?" Adam posed.
"Yeah, from somewhere in the Rho sector…" Lita raked her brain.
"That's right. It's the Alimbic cluster," Adam stated.
"That's where…the conflict…" Lita trailed off.
"That's the last known location of Samus Aran. I don't know what's there now, but if it took down Samus and her best fighters, then it's nothing to play around with. I hope you've come prepared," Adam cautioned.
"Hopefully moreso than necessary," Lita replied.
"I suppose I'll take you back to your ship?" Adam offered.
"Sure…why not. It's nice to have someone else around…with as alone as I've been lately," Lita sighed.
