The reason for it all. Have fun.

'Death has surrounded me for as long as I can remember.' She began. 'I watched as Ridley killed my parents. I watched as Ridley killed the Chozo I was raised by. I fought tooth and nail to become stronger, strong enough to kill Ridley and finally gain some rest from my nightmares. Over time, I became a killer as well, ending countless lives with my blaster, unflinching and unmoved. My goal was the only thing keeping me going, and one day on my home, Zebes, I came face to face with that monster. The fight was intense, and I came close to death numerous times, but I won. I killed him.

'At least, I thought I did. But years later, I was forced to return to Zebes, chasing the Metroid hatchling. During this, I was shocked to find Ridley, my most hated enemy, alive and stronger than before. How could this have happened? He wasn't the only one, of course. Mother Brain, and Kraid as well had returned. I managed to defeat them all once more, but the encounters revealed something to me.

'Evil will never die. As long as there is a light in this universe, there will be shadows. This was confirmed after I encountered Ridley once again, this time on the Bottle Ship. This thought led me into a deep depression, spiraling down into the depths of hatred and fear. Fear, it's a funny thing. It can make people do the impossible, but it also makes them fail just as easily. With me, it made me realize something. There was nothing I could do to end evil entirely, at least not alone. But there were no others capable of doing what was necessary to exterminate evil, so I was met with an impasse. Finally, the answer dawned on me.

'If there was only one person capable of accomplishing what needed to be done, then why not create more of that person? I must have sounded insane when I brought my proposal to the Federation, but what other alternative did I have? Nobody took me seriously at first, they all thought me mad. But finally, I met a certain doctor who was willing to attempt the genetic cloning.' Here she gestured to the man from before, who was busy tapping and swiping on a tablet. 'Doctor Morough, an expert in his field. He threw all of his efforts into this program, but we were met with failure after failure, until one day, we had a success.

'You. The ones before failed to make it past the first trimester of growth, and if they did, they were nonfunctional or deformed. But you were different. Not only did you survive, you were perfect, a completely healthy duplicate. Drawing from our successes with you, Doctor Morough began the duplication process on a mass level. You, my Daughter, are the turning point, the dawn of a new age of peace throughout the universe. Without you, none of this would be possible.' She looked around the room, a smile that reeked of satisfaction plain on her face. Finally, she turned her eyes back to me, and her smile dropped slowly.

Hot tears rolled down my face. The other SA units watched us, their gazes burning as I spoke through clenched teeth. 'Don't blame me for this!' I gestured towards the glass. 'Do you even see them, Mother? Can't you see they're locked up in here? Look at their eyes! There's no life there. These aren't even humans, they're just mindless drones. How could you do that to them? How could you bring them into this world, knowing they would never know anything but fighting and war and death and despair? HOW COULD YOU?' I screamed, looking her dead in the eyes. I'd never noticed before, but I was now tall enough to stand eye to eye with her, and I did so now. She didn't flinch as I moved closer, grabbing her chin and forcefully turning her head towards the SA units.

'I do see them.' She spoke softly, and without emotion. 'And you're right, they're not human. They're not even worthy of licking the dirt of my boots. They exist for the sole purpose of killing my enemies, our enemies.' She turned to look me in my eyes. 'I should have stopped with you. You were perfect, I didn't need them. I still have no use for them, they only exist for research purposes. You are more than enough to realize my long awaited dream.'

Before I knew what I was doing, I slammed my fist into her jaw. She stumbled backwards, a small cut appearing on her chin. She brought her hand up to her jaw, rubbing it gently. 'I will never help you.' I turned to leave, but found my way blocked by Doctor Morough, who stood in the doorway, a small pistol trained on my chest.

'I believe you'll find that the opposite is true, my little prototype.' His voice was smooth and deep as he adjusted his aim, and fired twice. An explosion of pain tore through my abdomen, and I crumpled to the ground. As my vision faded to darkness, I heard Mother speak.

'Another failure. This one showed so much promise, too. Give her to the Federation, it's time to move to the next sample.'

My world was swept away, as I drifted into unconsciousness.

The sound of the door sliding open woke me, and as the lights clicked on I saw Rood standing in the doorway.

"How are you feeling?" He looked tired, dark circles under his eyes, and his already unkempt hair was in even worse shape than before.

"Better than you look." I said with as much cheer as I could muster at the moment.

"Good to see you have a sense of humour. And here I thought you were just a mindless servant of the Federation." He moved from the doorway, towards the table off to my left. He cleared a spot amongst the medical apparatus and documents, and took a seat on the table. "I've been busy monitoring the Biodome for the last eighteen hours, not counting the sixteen before that spent monitoring your vitals. Someone killed my head researcher, after all."

I remembered the man from before, and I was hit with a deep regret.

"I'm sorry." was all I could manage.

"He was a good man. He had a family too, a wife and daughter. Now I have to tell them that he'll never come back."

I couldn't meet his gaze. I had been raised to put my survival first, and I'd never considered the repercussions of… I couldn't finish the thought.

We both sat in silence for a few minutes.

"So." Rood broke the silence. "Do you have any questions for me?"

"Dozens." I replied, grateful for the change in topic and mood.

"Ask away."

I took a deep breath. "Why is there a Biodome full of deadly predators on a supposedly deserted planet?"

"We've been researching them, analyzing their attack patterns, and trying to see if there's any way to use them in military applications. Imagine an army of Federation troops, with support from a squadron of Space Dragons. Or a pack of Burēdotatchi. This is nothing new, humans have been doing this for millenia." He paused. "Next question."

"Why is Sal working with you?"

"You'll have to ask her that one. I try not to give up other people's secrets. Next question."

"Why am I here?" This was the biggest question to me, and the most puzzling.

"That's a bit of a long story. The short version will have to do for now.

"We need you to kill Samus Aran."

I hope you've managed to make it through the last few chapters. We're finally getting back to the action, so fasten your seat belts and hold on to your butts. PM me or leave a review if you have suggestions, questions, or are just mad at me for ruining your day. Next chapter will be up when I have an hour or two of free time to write it, so until then,

CM out.

P.S. Go hit up a2alexa's Zelda story if you like this. She's much better at pacing, although updates are scarce. (You heard me.)