Wow, I haven't updated this in forever. I'll try to get better at that.
Just a warning, there is a cuss word in this chapter.
A large, white sphere appeared in a small, iron oxide-colored cave. The sphere lasted for a matter of seconds, and then contracted into nothingness, leaving Samus Aran in its place.
Map, please, Samus thought. Alex had introduced her to the AI within her suit, a sentient computer Alex usually wore on his own wrist. He had explained that the computer, called COSE, possessed living cells within in its mechanical structure – the interaction between life and machine allowed him to modify parts of himself into various tools. Alex had allowed Samus to borrow COSE, to have them bound through a mental link. It was creepy at first, to have another consciousness brush against her own, but she quickly came to like COSE , as to her surprise, the machine had a sense of humor.
COSE, upon receiving Samus' request, commanded her suit's visor to display two maps, one for each eye to form a 3-dimensional image, of her location. Through COSE, Samus zoomed and rotated the map to best suit her needs.
"Okay, take a left out of the maze, a right into the hall, jam teleport station, turn around, strait, right, right, left, strait, left into the Auxiliary Computer B control bay gamma," Samus said out loud. She closed the map, and proceeded out of the cave and into a hallway; 2 meters wide and three meters high. In this hallway stood what Samus assumed to be a pirate, which looked something like a terrestrial squid, which flashed red and yellow upon seeing Samus. It was about to press a device on one of its tentacle-arms, but Samus aimed her right arm at it, and watched as COSE fired an azure energy pulse – Alex had said it was a new kind of mater, 'quantazon' – knocking the cephalopod out cold. She had been warned that most 'Combatant Augmentation Technology' suits possessed quantazon buffers, and thus would take multiple hits to take down. This pirate, however, had been KO'ed immediately.
Well that was easy enough, Samus thought.
Don't get cocky, COSE warned, These pirates aren't stupid, nor are they unprepared. Their security is just a little more sophisticated than giving everyone a gun and telling them to shoot.
Hey, I wasn't about to let my guard down, Samus replied, It's just that, in my Universe, every pirate you see means a battle, and it's nice just to shoot once and be done with it.
Ah, COSE chirped, Then by all means, savor this change.
There was a door to the right of Samus, divided into a left, right, and top section and curved towards her. She almost fired another quantazon beam at the door, but then remembered that it lacked a force field. She instead walked up to the door, and tapped the wall to the left of it twice. The three sections of the door slid into the wall, and Samus stepped into a closet-sized, spherical room.
Now for a little fun myself. Aim me at that console, if you don't mind, COSE requested. Samus complied, pointing her right arm at a yellow-lit panel near the door she entered through, and COSE fired a blue quantazon pulse at it. Similarly blue sparks began to play around the console, and the yellow lights of the panel also began to flicker with an azure glow.
Wait for it, wait… and… ha! COSE 'said'. The sparks and blue flicker disappeared, and the panel now fully exhibited a yellow glow.
And down goes the pirate teleportation network, COSE stated, They'll probably figure out that it's deliberate sabotage, but when they do we'll have already uploaded our virus into Auxiliary Computer B.
Having done her job at the teleport station, Samus tapped to the left of the door again, and stepped into the metal hallway. She proceeded down the hall, through a few turns, to the doors of a computer control room, this door planar. In contrast to the teleport station, this room required the input of a numerical pass-code into an adjacent keypad; COSE, however, was able to simply fire a quantazon beam at the keypad, opening the door.
Samus saw what appeared to be an anthropomorphic cat seated at the computer console in the room, typing furiously. She also saw a security feed on one of the displays, showing herself at the door. To her surprise, she felt her suit automatically aim at the feline, and watched as COSE fired a quantazon pulse at him. The cat was, like the squid, instantly knocked out.
Our fault, COSE said, We should have warned you that our pirates come in more than one species. It's best to assume everyone here is a threat.
Samus pushed the cat out of the chair, and sat down herself. It seemed COSE was right; the guy had accessed the computer that controlled the teleport station, and was trying to purge the virus they had uploaded.
How did he respond that quickly? COSE wondered, Did we set off some kind of alarm when we entered the facility?
Under COSE's instructions, Samus undid the pirate's countermeasures against the sabotage. She then pressed a series of buttons on her right arm, preparing to release another virus from her suit.
Not yet! COSE said, The virus will die if you let it out now.
Alex had explained to Samus that the virus he had stored within her suit wasn't just a computer program, but a life-form, composed of the same quantazon her stun beam used. It still felt strange to think of a computer virus dying.
The security of this computer is more sophisticated than that of the teleporters. It has the ability to kill quantazon-based viruses, COSE explained, We've got to disrupt that ability before we release the virus. Now, click on that icon.
And thus Samus began one of the least action-packed parts of her mission. Through her, COSE began to worm through the security of Auxiliary Computer B. At first, the computer offered little resistance. As Samus worked her way into more delicate aspects of the computer's security, it began to become somewhat more stubborn. As Samus was about to input the final command needed to insert the virus, it made an unprecedented jump, and threw up a prompt for a 12-character password.
Um, password, please? Samus asked. The computer had asked for a few passwords in the past - then, COSE had told her what they were before she needed them. Obviously, this time was different.
This encryption is way more advanced than the others. I can't figure it out, COSE reported, We're going to need… I wonder if he'd know it.
Samus glanced at the cat-person kissing the floor.
Him. Okay, Samus thought, How do we wake him up?
I've already made an un-stun beam. It will wake him up, paralyze him, and I added a little extra treat, COSE answered, Just shoot him again.
Samus held her right arm to the cat furry, and COSE fired an azure beam at him. The cat's eyes began to flicker open.
"Hi," Samus chirped, once the anthro was fully awake, "We need something from you."
"Go to hell," The cat spat. Samus rocked her head back and forth.
"Now, let's make this easier for the both of us," Samus replied. The cat laughed.
"How could you make this hard for me?" The cat scoffed, "I'm sure Alexander Thunderstorm has already told you that my death would be unacceptable."
They knew we were sending you COSE thought We must be cautious, Samus. Even if they haven't anticipated our tactics, they must have something up their sleeves.
"He told me," Samus replied to the pirate. She pressed a button on her left wrist, freeing the suit's glove. She then took off her helmet.
You know, you can leave that on, COSE stated, It's not going to get in the way – the visor could actually help.
I know, but there's more than one way to skin a cat. Thought I'd have a little fun, Samus replied. She knelt down beside the paralyzed pirate, and began stroking him.
"I take it you don't know much about Raekan biology," The pirate stated, "You can't seduce me into helping me."
"I see," Samus replied, "Luckily, that wasn't the plan."
"Then what are… Ah!" The Raekan yelped Samus was holding one of the navy-blue strands of fur from the pirate's neck.
"That's your plan?" The pirate scoffed, "You're going to torture me, by plucking my hair out?"
"Yep," Samus chirped. She then removed another strand of fur.
"And you really think I would get the command codes – I assume that… ah!... is what you're after – if such measures would work on me?" The Raekan asked.
"Probably not," COSE replied, through a pair of built-in speakers, "But tell me, have you found your concentration waning ever sense we woke you?"
"A truth ray," The Raekan spat, "You bastard."
"Now, that was uncalled for," COSE remarked, "You don't say that to people without a mommy."
"Luckilly you're not a person, you fucking bracelet," The pirate replied. Samus felt her suit once again move on its own, aiming COSE to allow him to fire a red beam at the pirate. The pirate shouted in agony, and to Samus' horror, the scream raised sharply in pitch to an ear-piercing shriek.
"Even I can tire of playing games," COSE stated, "The password to access security sub-application S-503."
"I-WILL-NOT-COM…" The words obviously came hard for the pirate as he continued to shriek. Thankfully for him, COSE interrupted.
"5. 8. G. 7," COSE began. The computer then listed off the next 8 characters of the command code he needed, and then fired a more characteristic azure beam at the pirate. The feline's scream subsided, and was replaced by crying.
Here I thought your reality was devoid of cruelty, Samus thought, I was just getting used to killing being taboo, and now I learn you can torture.
Oh, there are regulations against thought extraction, too, COSE admitted, I'll be getting a big slap on the wrist for 'not giving prisoners 24-hours notice.
A fugure in a dark room, wearing what looked suspiciously like Samus Aran's old Phazon suit, looked at a holographic screen, which displayed the true Samus working at Control Bay Gamma. The Samus doppelganger pressed a button on his suit. This opened a second holographic window, displaying a creature which resembled a quartz crystal with legs and claws.
"How are the repairs to the teleportation network proceeding," Metroid Prime asked impatiently, his voice deep and reverberating.
"Slowly," The pirate replied, in a humming-sounding voice, "These viruses have almost complete control of the computers in command of the network, and are holding onto that control with an iron fist."
"Then shut down the network altogether, as I believe is protocol for such a situation," Metroid Prime ordered.
"Understood," The crystalline pirate responded. It began making several chords of pure tones, and produced several colors of lights from within its transparent body; the pirate's native tongue. After a few seconds, the pirate turned to one of its coworkers, and jumped back in surprise.
"Sir, it didn't work!" The pirate shouted, "The jump network is still receiving power!"
"How is that.!?" Metroid Prime tried to ask. He was cut off prematurely.
"Dark Samus, your presence is requested in the lab," A feminine voice called over an intercom. Metroid Prime would have grimaced, if he had a face under his helmet. He had used Samus form to regenerate himself, yes, but he hadn't forsaken his old identity. Yet even the pirates he had so briefly controlled referred to him with that wretched, demeaning name 'Dark Samus', even they had referred to him as a female! He was Metroid Prime, the lord of Phaaze and Phazon; and the Universe saw him as Samus' evil twin.
"Now," The voice continued. Why should I listen to her!? Metroid Prime thought angrily, I should kill her for treating me this way. These strongly rebellious thoughts, however, were pushed to the backseat of her mind, as an irresistible force drove his limbs to walk toward the door; he wasn't even able to cause a resistant stumble.