04.127.8-2

My newfound strength and agility have come in useful here. The caves, as is often in Zebes, are very vertical, but I have no trouble descending, dropping down from crag to crag. I can feel the heat from below on my face. Soon I will have to be careful what I touch with my bare skin—the rocks are getting warmer. Surprisingly, all the energy shields of the doors are still working. Most of them are blue, but a few are red or green, meaning I can't open them.

I am not alone here. I can hear the twittering of gamets, insect like organisms, and the growling of gerutas stuck to the ceilings. Even with the DNA I've been imbued with, I would probably be no match for any of the creatures that live down here. I pulled the paralyser gun I was given out of my rucksack. I'm going to stay as quiet as possible and give the creatures down here no reason to come after me.

04.127.8-3

I was not wrong about the heat in this area growing the further down I climbed. I touched a door's blue energy shield to open it and found myself blasted with hot air which I had to shrink back from. There are some parts of Norfair which will stay inaccessible to me. I hope the artefact isn't in one of those scorching chambers, otherwise my journey down here will have been wasted.

I am crouched next to a horizontal energy door on the ground which leads to a very long and narrow passage. There could be a larger creature which has made its home there. I will drop down as soon as I am finished writing here. I think maybe I should turn my light off in order to remain undetected.

04.127.8-4

I just had a brush with a massive beast which must live in that passageway. I am sick with fear. I did turn the light off, but that didn't help to make me inconspicuous. At one far end of the passage was magma which did help a little to light up the narrow chamber, but also made the monster all the more visible. I'm not sure why I wasn't able to see it when I took my first look into the passageway. Once I dropped down, the horizontal energy shield closed above me and there was no possibility of returning the way I had come.

The creature was a dark red with eight eyes on its elongated head. It's skin was both wrinkled and covered in warts. It eyes must have been used to the halflight of these caverns because all eight of them blinked open and settled on me. For a short moment, the monster and I stared at one another. Then it let out a roar and it pawed at the ground of the passageway with a long arm which ended in a massive claw, scratching up dust.

Neither the Chozo Elders nor Mother had warned me that there could be something like this in the depths of Norfair. Not for the first time I got the feeling that I was sent here not to retrieve an artefact, but on a suicide mission.

I had little time to contemplate this. The monster filled the height and width of the passageway. I raised my paralyser gun and shot at it. The beam darted towards the monster then fizzled ineffectually against the creature's thick red skin.

There was no direction for me to go except away from it, especially since it was advancing towards me. I made a dash in the opposite direction. My legs still felt extra powerful from the DNA I was imbued with. I was running faster than I ever had in my life. It took me only a few seconds to near the end of the passageway. Ahead of me was a large pool of magma instead of more ground, but there were also a few crags of basalt jutting out of it. Beyond was a blue energy shield. I could still hear the red monster shrieking and clawing up dust behind me. I did the only thing I could. I jumped from rock to rock, feeling the searing heat of the magma below me. I could even feel the heat from the hot basalt through my shoes. I vaulted from the last crag and landed in front of the door.

Turning behind me one last time I could just make out the monster's eight eyes which seemed to glow yellow in the darkness. The blue energy shield dissipated once I touched it and I passed through.

04.127.8-5

I am glad I brought this writing pad with me. Making diary entries helps me to gather my thoughts and calm down after terrifying encounters, or reflect on what I should do next. After passing through the exit to the monster's passage I switched my headband light back on. I was taking a risk there. Either I could wander through the half-lit chambers and hope not to run into any creatures or obstacles, or I could switch my light on and see where I was going but run the risk of being more conspicuous. I chose the latter.

I kept moving through the caverns. Slowly, they started to become less craggy and more manufactured. There were metal panels on the floor and ceiling. They became more and more prominent as I approached yet another blue energy shield. I could have used my paralyser pistol to shoot it open, but I didn't know if there was a limit to how many times I could use it. Instead, I touched it with my fingers, like always. Like a bubble bursting in slow motion, the shield dissipated.

Beyond, I could see a room that was entirely Chozo-made. It was compact and covered in steel alloy on the floor, walls and ceiling. It was lit by sterile lights, so I removed by headband light and put it in my bag. In a sitting position against the opposite wall was a large Chozo statue, bigger as they always are than real life Chozo. It's knees were tucked into its chest and its arms were outstretched, its hands holding a large yellow orb. I had seen statues like this one in Brinstar and Crateria, but their hands never held anything. The fact that this one still held an offering told me that it was unspeakably ancient.

I observed the orb. I got the impression that its surface was just an outer layer and that it must contain something. What could this be but the artefact I was sent to recover? I touched the orb with the tips of my fingers. It was unyielding. I then tried to lift it, but it was either too heavy or it was stuck to the statue's hands. Finally, I aimed my paralyser pistol, retreated a couple of steps to be safe, and shot at it. As soon as the beam touched the surface of the object, the orb seemed to absorb it, then faded away. Within was what looked like a smaller orb, red this time, with two thin yellow rings around it which seemed to orbit the sphere.

I briefly wondered what I was to do with this thing. I hadn't expected the artefact to look like this. When Mother told me I had to retrieve an artefact I didn't expect it to resemble this. I'm not sure what I was expecting. Perhaps a stone tablet with some writing on it, or maybe something more high-tech like a holographic projector which displayed text in an ancient Chozo script.

Without thinking, I brushed the strange object with the tips of my fingers. I heard a snap, like static electricity passing from the object to my hand, then the object started to glow, then quickly flow in a stream of light through my hand, arm, and into my torso. Soon my entire body was enveloped in light and my feet were lifted off the ground. It happened so quickly that I did not have time to feel frightened. In a moment, my feet touched the ground again, but something felt different. I realised I was encased in metal and was looking through a visor.

Looking down at myself, I could see that every part of me was covered by a suit, even my rucksack. My left hand was gauntleted, my right was covered by a large cylinder with a hollow end—an arm cannon? I contracted my fingers within it involuntarily and was surprised when a small circular beam blasted out of the hollow end and struck the opposite wall, thankfully doing no damage. So the artefact was a weapon.

I tried that again, purposefully this time. I stretched my arm and contracted my index finger and the result was the same. Another beam struck the wall. This beam could come in valuable. It was certainly more powerful than my paralyser pistol.

So this was what Old Bird was talking about. This was ancient Chozo technology: a suit of armour that the inhabitants of Zebes from millennia ago would have used in battle. Something long forgotten by the peaceful, modern Chozo. Why did Mother want this? Was she planning to start a war and needed this power suit to arm the Chozo with?

It seemed I had achieved my goal. I was now wearing the Chozo artefact. I suppose it only fused with me because of my Chozo DNA. Perhaps there were two reasons Mother imbued me with it: One, so that I would have a greater chance of survival in the caverns of Norfair, and two, so that the suit would integrate with me.

I left the room where the Chozo statue still sat. I felt even stronger because of the suit. I could even see better in the caves. The visor gave off a green light.

I wasn't sure if it was the sound of the movement of the Chozo suit, or the light from my visor, but a dessgeega descended from above. I had never seen one of these in the flesh, though Old Bird had once shown me a hologram depicting one while teaching me about the fauna of Zebes. It had two legs as thick as tree trunks, was covered in spines, and its thick purple skin enabled it to survive in extremely high temperatures. If it had approached me before I had collected the artefact I would have had to run and it is unlikely that my paralyser would have done much damage.

Before I had time to react it rammed into me with its spiny head, knocking me onto the cavern floor. On the top half of my visor I spotted something I hadn't noticed before. There was a long thin bar which, before the dessgeega and attacked me read '99', but which now had fallen to '76'. The suit had absorbed any damage that would have been done to me, but in doing so had lost some of its energy. It seemed the Chozo suit wasn't invulnerable.

I leaped to my feet and trained my arm cannon on the hostile creature. Rapidly contracting my right index finger, I let out of flurry of power beams which struck the dessgeega and caused it to shrink back. It wasn't finished with me though. As it crouched, preparing to launch itself at me using its powerful legs, I tried something that hadn't occurred to me before. Instead of tapping my index finger, I held it down. That caused the power beam to collect and charge on the tip of the cannon. The creature flung itself into the air, intending to land on me, but just as it reached the apex of its jump, I released the charged beam. It struck the dessgeega midair, causing its body to rupture, splattering its remains all over the cave, and some onto my suit.

My heart was beating rapidly. I had to take a moment to collect myself. No wonder suits like these caused the former Chozo Empire to dominate the galaxy millennia ago. An army of Chozo with suits like these would be unstoppable. Even alone, I felt I could take on any creature that roamed the depths of Norfair. Well, almost any. Seeking out the red monster I had seen before would be reckless and foolish. I decided not to take the same path as before on my journey back to Brinstar.

I could no longer feel the heat of Norfair's air, nor that on the heated rocks of its walls and platforms. But there was more to this suit than just firepower and extra protection. I could also jump higher, allowing me to vault off the walls above me to new heights, reaching the horizontal doors on the ceiling. I found my way upwards much faster than I had on the way down. On my descent I had been as quiet as a mouse, but on my ascent I felt there was no reason to fear the creatures around me. Some heard me and crept out of their hiding spaces, only to be laid to waste by my power beam.

Senseless gamets rose from their nests and flew at me, only to be burst apart by my firepower, and gerutas nesting on Norfair's ceilings flew down, claws extended, only to suffer the same fate. Only armoured rippers which flew this way and that appeared to be impervious to my beam, but they didn't seem to be hostile to me anyway. Luckily, I didn't run into any truly larger life forms as I vaulted upwards. Seeking one out just to test the capabilities of my suit would have been rash.

I had reached the same elevator I had taken down to Norfair in no time at all. I stepped onto it, feeling heavier than I had on the journey down, but the floating platform seemed to have no trouble taking the extra weight of my suit.

It ascended slowly, and I had the opportunity to catch my breath and calm myself. The violence that had taken place below, as well as the frisson on excitement that had rippled through me after feeling the power of this all-but-forgotten Chozo artefact, had caused my heart to beat at the double.

So much the better that I regained my composure, because as the elevator neared Lower Brinstar I found myself, yet again, the centre of attention. It seemed the Chozo Elders had not moved from the spaces they were in when I first stepped onto the elevator. Old Bird was there too. Again, all eyes were on me, and although I always had trouble reading the emotions on the Chozo's avian faces, I didn't have to guess that they were surprised and astounded that I was wearing their power armour. Perhaps they expected that I would just be carrying the artefact, not wearing it, but I felt in that case that I didn't really have a choice. The suit had fused itself to me as soon as I had touched the object that the Chozo statue was holding.

Before the Chozo Elders had a chance to say anything I noticed something I hadn't seen before. An eye shaped security camera in the corner of the ceiling. It bore a stirring resemblance to Mother's own large eye. Could she be watching me through it?

The Chozo seemed to swallow their indignation that a mere human girl had appropriated their priceless artefact. The foremost among them spoke. I assumed he was rebuking me for wearing what I had been sent to retrieve, but once Old Bird translated I realised he was only asking me to follow them to Mother's chamber. Apparently she had something important to say to me.

The Elders and I trooped out of the elevator room. Old Bird sidled up to me. I noticed with amusement that thanks to the suit I was almost of the same height as him.

'I fear for you', he said. 'You are going through some sudden and rapid changes. First your infusing with Chozo DNA, now obtaining a Chozo power suit. I expected some adverse side effects, but you seem to be handling everything ok.'

I said: 'Do you think the Elders will try to take the suit away from me?'

Old Bird said: 'I get the impression that they are unsure if you deserve it, but I think they will let Mother decide. As always, her word is law.'

The group of Elders and I passed through Brinstar in single file. Other Chozo bowed their heads in respect as we passed, but when they saw me wearing the power suit their eyes grew large. Even I could tell that this meant they were surprised.

Soon the more organic environment of Brinstar changed to the cold metal alloy of Tourian. The halls here were long and empty aside from the security turrets and deactivated forcefields. This was not the first time I had remarked that the Chozo had given Mother plenty of firepower to defend herself with. Anyone who would try to pass through the halls of Tourian in order to attack Mother would have a lot to contend with.

Finally, we arrived in Mother's chamber. Her massive jar dominated the room. The Chozo Elders and I filled the rest of it.

As before, her booming voice reverberated around the chamber. Her eye was focused on me.

So the human child has returned unharmed. This outcome was never a forgone conclusion. I am impressed. What surprises me even more is that she is wearing the artefact, not merely carrying it. This suggests my anticipation that Miss Aran is an asset to the Chozo race is mostly likely correct. The power suit fuses itself not only to one who has Chozo DNA, but also one who is a worthy warrior. The power suit artefact is the property of the Chozo Elders of Zebes who have the right to take the artefact back into their custody, but I believe that would be unwise. Although Miss Aran is a human, she is deserving of the suit and the firepower that comes with it and has likely become skilled in the suits weaponry already in dealing with the hostile creatures of Norfair.

Some of the Elders still looked reluctant, but did not contradict Mother. From that point on, the suit was truly mine. Old Bird escorted me back to my quarters. On the way there were talked about my future. My fusing with Chozo DNA, my adventure in Norfair, and my acquisition of the power suit had proved to him beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was no longer a child just to be taken care of. In fact, I could now do things that most ordinary humans could only dream of doing.

I could of course stay on Zebes for as long as I wished, but Old Bird remembered I had expressed a desire to return to human civilisation in the past. Perhaps soon I would. He asked if I knew what I would like to do, and I told him I wasn't sure, but perhaps something that would put my newfound powers to good use. Maybe I would join the Galactic Federation Police.

04.127.8-5

I write in these journals so that I could exercise my writing skills. Before, I wasn't sure when I would return to the human-inhabited parts of the galaxy, but seeing as my departure from Zebes is on the horizon I have no reason to continue keeping a journal. I imagine I will be doing plenty of writing in future anyway.

I am hesitant about leaving the Chozo under the command of Mother. They are too trusting in her. True, she is acutely intelligent, but that does not make her completely trustworthy. Perhaps my doubts are unfounded. It was because of her that I have my power suit, so for that I should be grateful.

Soon I will leave Zebes and these writing pads along with it. I hope to one day return, and when I do I will read over my journal here and relive my first great adventure in Norfair.

Log 09.992.4

Translation of human script successful. References to superior Chozo weapons technology detected within document. Dispatching translated document to Security Command and Research Team for further study, along with this log.

That which was nominated as the 'power suit' is most likely still in the custody of bioform referred to as Samus Aran. This individual is undoubtedly human. Allusions to K2-L suggest that this bioform, the writer of this document, once likely lived on this human colony, now destroyed by our forces. How she managed to escape and ended up in the custody of the Zebesian Chozo is a mystery.

Nonetheless, the most crucial discovery taken from this document is the mention of the Chozo power armour. If the writing of this human is to be believed, she has taken the power armour artefact for herself and now represents a very real threat to our forces. According to the writer, this power armour was the last of its kind. Nonetheless, we will search the cave system known as Norfair in spite of that. If there is even the slightest possibility that Chozo weapons technology may be found in those caverns we will venture a sweeping search of the area. The metroids may not be the only benefit yielded by our conquest of the planet.

Mother Brain is mentioned multiple times in Aran's account. If our ground forces learned of how she betrayed the Chozo it may spark mistrust in her, and perhaps propagate the notion that she would use our empire in the same way she used that of the Chozo, abandoning yet another race of life-forms for one more powerful. I suggest that this document be restricted to those of the highest rank in the Research Team.

Awaiting further orders from Security Command, though we will also defer to the commands of Mother Brain.