EDIT: Wow... I must have been really sleep deprived when I posted this one. The formatting's so bad I almost wouldn't discount drugs if I didn't know for certain I've never used any.

Chapter 3: Sector 1

"…The X have invaded the breeding environments. In particular Sector One is showing many anomalies on bio-sensors. Sector 1 is a perfect re-creation of the SR388 Biosphere. Take the Main Elevator to the access shafts and from there take Elevator One. I fear that whatever let the X in may be linked to the previous explosion." The AI signs off.

"That and your unlocking the hatches," we murmur.

"What?" Samus asked.

"Nothing."

We click our visual sensors into Night Vision mode and enter the next room. Samus's suit emits a slight glow. We hop up two platforms and onto a third.

"Hey Samus, think we should investigate that?" We asked, pointing out a small tunnel.

In answer, Samus morphs into ball form and rolls in. After a moment, she rolls back out. "I found a missile expansion and something else. I think you'd better go check it out." We put the blaster rifle mags we'd been juggling back at our waist, about where a human would wear a belt and pop into the air, green energy swirling around us as we morph into our ball form. We roll in and pick up some sort of cuboid object on the other side. It emits a strange energy field we can't identify. We put it in Hammerspace and return to Samus, who is patiently waiting at the next door, the one with a drop leading to the quarantine bay. We hop over the gap and morph, rolling through a small tunnel and open a door on the far side.

We open a Ki channel to our sister Cmanion. Her blue with purple muzzled fox face appears on our screen. "What you got?" She asks.

We send her the energy signature readings. She promptly drops her game controller and treats us to a minute of loud clattering from her nice mechanical keyboard. She occupies the time by quipping, "You know you've been hacking too long when your computers have a higher street value than your house. And my computers have a much higher street value… Well, this is interesting, it looks like the device should be able to increase your RU capacity, allowing you to carry more ammunition for your auxiliary weapons. Try loading it."

We load the expansion unit and pump our weapon.

RU Expansion installed
RU Capacity Increased

"That all?" Risa asks, already reaching for her gamepad.

"Yup, that's all," we say, finishing walking down a hall, through a door and into an elevator chamber and clicking off the Ki.

"Who was that?" Samus asks.

"Our sister and wetware template Camanion. Our wetware components are cloned from her."

"Ah, so that's why she looked like you."

Meanwhile, at the top of the shaft…

An explosion shatters one wall. Samus wearing her Varia Suit walks through the hole and pauses for a moment. A security camera pans toward the disturbance. It zooms in on the face. The face looks almost identical to Samus's, distorted slightly by the translucent green visor. The eyes are pure white with no iris or pupil. The last frame recorded by the camera is a rapidly approaching mid-Screw Attack Samus. The audio sensors detect a second explosion, presumably the hatch being blown open followed by rapidly fading footsteps.

We hear a massive explosion above us as the elevator glides to a stop at the bottom, powering down. "Shab" we growl out.

"Huh?" Samus asks, apparently not being fluent in Mandalorian.

"Don't ask." We lead the run to Sector One. Down the elevator and through a door leads to a navigation room. We situate ourselves on the platform and Samus activates the console.

"The main elevator has been severely damaged. It will be unusable for quite some time. There is an unknown agent at work here. Something powerful. Certainly not human," the AI beings.

"Figured that out by yourself? Your programmer must be proud," we jump in.

"…Right, I'll report back when I know more. Anyway, listen closely. The X have invaded the Atmospheric Stabilizers. They are altering the environment to suit their needs. They are already reproducing. There are five Atmospheric Stabilizers. Go and make it a non-issue."

We run through a biometric room and into a chamber with a console in the middle. Samus grins, "I can use this," She steps in front of the console and a tube extends into her Arm Cannon, reloading it.

We step forward in front of the console., "Shouldn't surprise us that they have RUs."

The next room has four platforms, an enclosure around a green door in the upper right, a blue door at the bottom left white hatch at the bottom right and us at the top left. We slot an assault rifle clip and mow down three zombies. The white hatch leads to a long hall with a Barrier X at the end. In the middle are a collection of floating balls.

"Hey Composite," Samus asks, beam already blazing, "Is that disk on your back any good?"

In response we slice the barrier in half with one throw. "Nice, where'd you get that? Think I might just get one."

We grab the Disk as it returns to us, "Good luck with that, this Disk is literally a part of us," Noticing Samus's confused look, "We'll explain later."

The next room is filled with mist and fog. We slowly make our way up two platforms, along a long overhang and drop down onto another platform. The Stabilizer is up ahead, covered in some sort of growth. Every two seconds or so it flickers and releases a yellow or green X. Samus pumps three missiles into it over the course of about three seconds. "Sometimes I wish this thing would fire faster," she comments.

"Try switching to beam mode between missile shots." Samus tries this and triples her rate of fire.

"Hey Composite, how did you know about that?"

"Just a hunch," we said. This was mostly true. We'd briefly heard one of our coworkers discussing it back in our home dimension, but knowing the intelligence and accuracy of the average User, we'd taken it with a grain of salt.

In the next room we quickly blast four Hornoads. Their X immediately float up and form some sort of black flying creature with an orange eye.

"Oh, I remember these," Samus says, giving her rapid fire missile trick a field test, "Needs a missile or a charge shot, and I can't charge shot yet."

We enter the next room, hop over a gap and enter an atmospheric stabilizer room. Samus shoots out the bottom of a pillar and a Hornoad hiding behind it. We run through, gun swinging from side to side as we scan for targets. Seeing none, we dash across and hop up a platform, turn around, and hop onto the celling of the last corridor.

We follow the tunnel and Samus blasts another Hornoad. We glance up and shoot out the weak ceiling of the tunnel, revealing another passage above us. We tuck our les under us and float up, Disking a Hornoad and sniping another. Samus pumps three missiles into the stabilizer, destroying the X and absorbing it. We return to the laast room and drop down one level, entering a room under our first entry point.

"For the record," Samus comments, "Hornoads couldn't spit acid last time I encountered them back on SR388."

We notice the enemy in front of us, "Hey, that looks like a cross between a hedgehog and one of those alien chaka from The Live."

"Yeah, they're armored in front, so normal shots won't scratch them, but a missile or shot to the back will finish them." Samus gets its attention and it surges forward. Samus casually hits it with a missile at the last second and absorbs the green X.

The next room is a vertical shaft. Several purple walhugger creatures crawl up and down, shooting energy beams. "Zebesians," Samus identifies, "After the BOTTLESHIP I really shouldn't be surprised. Just dodge them, they're not worth the ammo." Saying this she goes into Morph Ball, and we transform into our own ball form. We drop down, almost effortlessly dodging the beams and critters. The next room has some sort of creature underwater that shoots small pellets of energy. Samus completely ignores it as it doesn't have the range to hit us from the bottom of its depression. We simply jump over it and continue on.

The next room contains an atmospheric stabilizer. In front of us is a hole. Two ladders go up two sides of it and a platform hangs in empty space . We glance questioningly at Samus and she shrugs, "Don't ask how the platforms float. I don't." A horizontal ladder goes along the ceiling.

"Normally we'd just float across, but when there's a convenient ladder one feels obliged," we comment.

We cross the ladder to the pillar making up the far side of the hole. Samus shoots the X on the stabilizer with a missile but it simply bounces off., "Blast! It's shielded. We'll either need to hit the bottom or other side. Oh well." We hot down two platforms and climb a ladder. The shielding opens up on the other side and we finish it off. The stabilizer whirs to life.

"Hey Samus, check this out! We say, hopping down to the floor and jumping behind a Hornoad. Samus aims at it, but waits to see our little trick. We place our hand on its back, which does sting a bit, but we ignore It and state firmly "Download!"

Copy Form
Name: Hornoad-X
Type: Parasite: Wetware Semi-Sentient Host: Wetware Non-Sentient
Abilities: Movement by jumping, Spit acid
Strengths: None
Weaknesses: Low Damage, Slow and Hard to Control Movement, Low Defense
Known Morph Restrictions: None
Copy Complete
Verification Complete

Our form briefly changes to that of the Hornoad before reverting to our Base Form. With no more use for it, we quickly finish it off with a sword. "That's odd," we say in a curious tone.

"What, the fact that you briefly turned into a Hornoad?" Samus asks.

"No. Normally when we copy a form we can't use it in the dimension we got it from, but we have no such restrictions here. Maybe it's because the X are so common?"

"Copy… form?"

"What? You didn't think we can only turn into a ball did you?" We ask, amused. We pop up into the air. A vortex of green energy surrounds us as we transform into the Hornoad form. We turn around and give the second toad an acid bath it won't live to remember before returning to our own form.

"Nice," Samus says, "Can you copy any form?"

"Just about, we haven't really tested it properly though."

The next room contains one of the hedgehogs which we promptly copy (Charge attack, armored front, weak to explosives and rear attack) and continue on our way. The room after is the simplest stabilizer yet. Jump up two ledges, climb a horizontal ladder and missile time.

At the top left is a door leading to a room with the same small creature after the zebezians and missile and RU expansions. We take our respective enhancements and leave. The door to the right bottom leads to a vertical shaft full of Zebesians (Climb walls, powerful energy beams, weak to explosives) the room at the top is a flooded corridor with a horizontal ladder. We climb along, blasting two little water sprayers and shooting out part of the next wall leading to a door, drop down a vertical shaft and climb up the next, blasting off a door guard X.

The door locks behind us. Samus runs across the room and stops in front of a gray statue holding a spotted ball. "A Chozo Statue. These are always useful." She thinks for a moment "…Except for those two on Zebes, but I'm sure this one isn't like those." She shoots the ball and it disappears, making a sound like a hurt X. "Oh sh-"

The statue changes into a large shielded X. Sams missiles it to no result. It opens an eye and shoots a beam at he. We speak up, "In our experience, shooting the eye is usually a good idea."

"Of course! Now let's do it!" Samus responds, pumping a missile into the eye and dodging the return shot. We give it an anit-armor grenade to think about andd Samus finishes it off with another missile, absorbing the core.

"Hey, I've got my charge beam back!" Samus says happily. Her beam glows red and fires a thick shot. We jump up the room and to the top door.

"The nerve of that X!" Samus says, clearly steamed. She shoots a loose ceiling panel to reveal another room above us, "Imitating a Chozo statue! I wish I could kill it again just for that!" She missiles a panel across from the door, hanging on an otherwise pointless ladder.

"What's wrong with it?" We ask, genuinely curious.

"What's wrong?! The Chozo are a peaceful people. They haven't fought a war in centuries! Most of the statues aren't even capable of attacking!" She calms down for a second, cathartically blasting water spitters and grabbing a Missile expansion, "After the space pirates killed my parents when I was four, the Chozo took me in. They raised me until I was sixteen when they gave me my suit. It took them a nice long while to find it too. It was in a warehouse full of broken weapons and war equipment that were mostly used by young Chozo for experimenting with. I'm actually part Chozo since Grey Bird used his own blood to augment my DNA."

"…That makes sense," is all we can think of to respond with. Samus nods, understanding instantly that we can't find the words and they wouldn't sound adequate if we could. We project the map from our Ki and announce, "Now let's go get that last stabilizer online!"

We have to drop down an overhang and enter a small alcove to kill the last X. Samus doesn't even missile it, just uses her new charge beam. It's cleared in short order. We proceed out the lower door and shoot the gate open in the next room, allowing us back into one of the familiar vertical shafts, quickly proceeding to the Navigation Room.