Chapter 14: Means To An End
Samus had found herself face-to-face with the supreme being of the Metroid species, the gargantuan Queen Metroid. It was the final stage in the life cycle of a Metroid, with the former stage being Omega. Only select infants had the genetic coding within them to become queens, and only if they were within their natural habitat. So to encounter a queen outside of SR-388 was rare, if not impossible.
A white hot burst of pain coursed throughout the bounty hunter's every nerve, the torso of her suit having been pierced by the beast's surprise attack, her flesh savagely ripped into as it were mere paper. "Suit integrity compromised; all systems remain online. Beginning regeneration sequence..." she heard her suit saying behind the agonizing pain, blood trickling down her torso in wide, unrelenting streams. Samus knew she'd been gravely injured, but also knew it could have been a lot worse had she not jumped back at the very last second. It would take far too long for her suit to repair itself, and not long at all for her to fall before the might of the Metroid queen, so she did the only thing she could - and had ever done in dire situations such as these - pressed on and hoped she made it out alive.
The Queen was a large, quadrupedal creature with a long neck, face similar to that of a crocodile, a broad jawline and mouth adorned with three sets of razor-sharp mandibles. Her extremely durable green carapace protected her from all types of beam weaponry, including the piercing effects of the Plasma Beam. Two large, organic, tube-like orifices, used most likely for birthing offspring, extended a ways out past her hind legs. The only thing that seemed to resemble her kin was the presence of a clear, gelatinous abdomen. Samus had encountered one during her mission on SR-388 right before the Baby hatched and, to this day, had been the only being to ever encounter one and live to tell about it.
Samus wasn't quite sure, but she thought she could see evidence of gestation present with the Queen's abdomen, and attempted to pierce it with a charged Plasma Beam shot. The Queen, however, was more than aware of Samus' attempt at harming her young and quickly shielded her exposed abdomen by crouching so that her belly tucked up into her body. Enraged, the Queen dashed toward Samus in an attempt to crush her against the wall. Samus barely managed to sidestep the Queen and watched as her head hit the wall and dented the metal plating.
Feeding on pure adrenaline at this point, Samus angrily trained her Arm Cannon on the head of the massive bioform, her eyebrows furrowing deeply together in determination as a feral growl tore from the depths of the warrior's heart within her. "COME ON!"
The resilient Queen shook off any ill-effects of its failed ramming attack and summoned two of her offspring from the holes on her back and slowly turned around to charge at Samus once more while her offspring attempted to distract her and attach themselves to the mercenary in an attempt to make her an easy target; luckily, Samus was able to detach one of them long enough to freeze it with her Ice Beam and kill it with a Super Missile. She quickly repeated the process with the next one and continued to move about the room, her vision beginning to grow tunnel due to blood loss. Soon, however, the Queen summoned three more Metroids from her back. With the constant swarming, Samus soon found it difficult to repeat the fail-safe process of shaking the creatures off with a Morph Ball Bomb, freezing them, and then killing them with a Super Missile, especially since the Queen was keenly aware and protective of her spawn and when they were frozen - a tiny tremor from her would usually shatter the ice, and the process would begin anew.
Eventually, Samus was able to kill every Metroid the Queen had jettisoned, and now found herself pitted against the enraged beast in a game of life and death. Samus's heart pounded in her chest as the Queen exploded in a rage, two sets of shimmering red crystals sprouting from her neck. Samus's Arm Cannon remained trained on the beast as it charged a deadly blast of plasma breath from within its mouth and fired it in her direction. The exhausted, heavily injured hunter was barely able to avoid the potent blast thanks to her Screw Attack capability, and moved to target the bright crystal on the Queen's neck with her Seeker Missiles. Once a clear lock was obtained, Samus shot five missiles simultaneously at the weak point and watched the Queen writhe in temporary pain.
Got to...hold on... Samus told herself in an attempt to dig deep and remain alert. It was all she could do to keep from collapsing.
Furious, the Queen attempted to charge at her prey once more in an futile attempt to crush her adversary. With another clear shot, Samus destroyed the other set of crystals on the Queen's neck. The crystals destroyed, the Queen crumbled to the ground, stunned from the impact.
Suddenly, the monotonous voice of the station's announcer echoed throughout the room, advising of imminent danger.
"This facility will intercept Galactic Federation space in approximately 30 seconds..."
Samus watched as the Queen Metroid struggled to her feet while keeping tabs on the countdown. As the Metroid queen attempted to regain her balance, Samus furiously pummeled the trigger of her Arm Cannon and tore into the creature's exposed and sensitive abdomen, killing the unborn Metroids within her. Raging, the Queen finally crawled to her feet and spawned yet another set of crystals on her neck, seemingly having revived herself, thus beginning the battle anew. Samus couldn't believe her eyes; there was no time left to down the Queen and escape. She was exhausted, severely injured, and at her breaking point. The finality of her imminent death had left her struggling to find a way out of this hellish nightmare. To add to her despair, she could hear the computerized voice speak of another warning.
"Warning: Emergency brakes engaged. Brace for impact..."
Suddenly, the ship came to a abrupt halt and sent both Samus and the Queen Metroid crashing to the floor. Samus was slow in getting to her feet. The sudden impact had caused the Queen to land on her side with her abdomen exposed. Samus held her fire, sensing the Queen was about to rebound. And when she did, her mouth opened wide, Samus pulled herself into the Queen's mouth using her Grapple Beam and was promptly digested in Morph Ball form. The corrosive acids of the Queen's stomach drained what remained of her energy tanks with horrifying speed. Sheer terror filled Samus as her energy reserves fell into the red and her suit began to shut down. In a last-ditch attempt to fell the creature, Samus quickly laid a Power Bomb within the Queen's stomach, exploding it from the inside out in a flash of white-hot light and heat.
The Queen had been obliterated and the room left in a mess of twisted metal and blood. As Samus disengaged the Morph Ball, wondering how she'd even had the strength to do so, the frightened woman quickly made her escape from the room and into the Queen Metroid's observation room. Samus watched, exhausted, as the woman fled. She did not follow suit, at least not immediately. Instead, Samus performed suit diagnostics to see what damage the Queen's acids had done to her already compromised suit. Ten percent left in energy reserves. Less than twenty percent left in missile systems. Beam weapons operating at full potential. Suit integrity at fifty percent. What's more, the battle had left her exhausted, dangerously close to expiring, and unable to utilize the experimental Federation technology within her suit due to her current state. And with no recharge booths nearby and the entire center on lockdown, Samus felt a sense of terrifying finality well up inside of her; she would be ill-equipped from this moment onward should she be forced to engage in another battle. The bounty hunter trudged on to the Observation Room.
Dual level in nature, the Observation Room featured numerous monitors and computer terminals fixed to the walls on either side. A lift leading to the second floor was at the far side of the rather spacious room. The area had a dark, almost eerie feel to it as Samus calmly approached the frightened woman.
The woman looked to be in her late thirties to mid forties, yet still retained a beautiful, youthful face and appearance. Red hair, cut short and simply styled, framed her face. She was dressed in a long white lab coat adorned with gray piping, gray slacks and knee-high white boots. And, as Samus clearly gathered from her hysteria earlier, the woman was very much terrified; she would have to approach the situation with the utmost care.
"Easy. Just relax. I won't hurt you. I won't come any closer until you say otherwise. You have my word. Just relax." Samus calmly explained.
"W-who are you?!" stammered the red-headed woman before taking note of the cyborg's grave state. "A-are you all right?"
Samus placed her hand against the shredded, red chest plate of her suit, making sure to hide her pain despite it being terribly obvious. "My name is Samus Aran. My injuries aren't important. Can you tell me your name?"
The red-head looked upon the cyborg in disbelief. Whomever was inside of the orange armor clearly wasn't fine, its torso armor shredded clean through like a knife through butter, a large gash, the muscles and tissue of its abdomen exposed, still fresh and bleeding. Yet the cyborg, for whatever reason, remained standing and concerned only with her. "B-But you're severely injured. Please, let me help you."
"Never mind about me – what is your name?" Samus asked again. "I'm an independent bounty hunter. I came here after intercepting a distress signal." added the hunter, feigning for the sake of the woman.
The woman relaxed just a bit. Her body, once tense and trembling, soon took on a more relaxed posture. She could trust this stranger before her. That much was clear. She tilted her head back to meet Samus's towering gaze. "My name is Madeline Bergman."
The revelation hit Samus with disbelief and confusion. "Wait a second... I met another woman who also called herself Madeline Bergman... What's going on?"
The woman promptly pushed a little button on the badge attached to the left breast of her lab coat and properly identified herself to be Dr. Madeline Bergman, Director of Operations aboard the Bottle Ship. "What you met earlier was MB. She's an android. She was created using the intellectual data of Mother Brain and subsequently developed Mother Brain's consciousness as well."
Shock soon turned to anger for the bounty hunter. She had been talking to the android form of Mother Brain only hours earlier! The revelation nearly made her want to explode in yet another burst of rage. But anger, as powerful (and dangerous) as it was, would never get her anywhere, and would only serve to fill her with regret later on. Regardless, Samus found it hard to contain her temper. "What?!"
The real Madeline Bergman attempted to brace Samus as she fumbled for stability, having grown dangerously weak, her body running on fumes of adrenaline. "Easy. Easy now. Just rest for a moment."
It was all Samus could to do shrug off Bergman's concern. "I'm...all right. Keep talking – I want to know everything."
Madeline stayed at the hunter's side. "MB was the artificial intelligence originally developed to regenerate and control Zebesian special forces. Because we wanted it to control these special forces through telepathy, we were forced to model its infrastructure after Mother Brain. At that time, MB didn't have a human form. Before long we started to see the viability of creating Metroid clones. Once we did... MB started to take on her current shape. Because we needed the first of these cloned Metroids to recognize MB as its mother, she had to take on the form of a living thing. With that as our basis, we were able to create the ideal relationship with the Metroid. One that wasn't based on dominance or control..."
Samus remembered the baby hatch before her very eyes on SR-388 and imprint her as its mother. And when it attacked Mother Brain in order to save her, that had been the type of relationship the Federation scientists attempted to create with MB. With the means of control in place, they began propagating Metroids within Sector Zero. At the same time, they were conducting genetic manipulation experiments on these very same Metroids in hopes of creating a cold-resistant variant. Samus gathered that the first of these cloned Metroids, based on the Baby, had somehow become the Queen she'd battled earlier. They had wanted to keep her as a control specimen, but the fact that she would grow into a Queen was something Madeline and her team couldn't have predicted... or could they? Samus began to wonder. With all the tests they had been conducting on Metroids, surely they could have discovered that the first cloned Metroid larva had the genetic coding to become a queen, which is why they intended to keep her as the control specimen. It had all begun to make sense now.
"The queen I killed earlier, she was the first of the cloned Metroids, and the one responsible for creating the link between MB and the Metroids, correct?"
Madeline nodded. "We discovered the first cloned larva did in fact have the genetic coding to become a queen. However, it was our understanding that such a progression was not possible due to unfavorable conditions - we understood that this metamorphosis was only possible on SR-388. However, MB was somehow able to negate this and successfully create the queen you encountered earlier."
"Because of her identity as its mother?"
"It's possible. Once MB was in her current form, she excelled. As an interface between us and the Metroids, her skills with personal interactions humanized her to a great extent. Her confidence was unwavering, and her ability to learn was greater than we'd expected. But then... She developed emotions." Madeline began to slowly pace back and forth. "She began asserting her own thoughts, and her opinions began to contradict ours. It's quite typical for artificial intelligence to evolve as a result of self-analysis. However, there's no precedent for an AI like MB developing emotions. It's possible that her interactions with the Metroids brought it about, but we don't know for sure. It was at this time that the decision was made to change her AI programming."
Samus took notice of the pain and regret in Madeline's voice as she uttered that last sentence. It was becoming quite clear to Samus what had happened. At the very moment the infant hatched and imprinted MB as its mother, the AI had begun to develop a soul. It was all too similar to Samus' own experience with her own hatchling. In this way, Samus nearly felt sympathy for the fledgling girl and the humanity that began to take shape within her. A humanlike existence... but one without feelings. To make MB less than human, the researchers had to deny her that consciousness. For Madeline, however, who had more or less treated MB as if she were her own daughter, it almost felt as if denying MB this consciousness was very much like sentencing her to death.
Tears began to stir within Madeline's eyes as she recalled the painful memory. "I had no idea they wanted to change her programming. One day, two security officers suddenly barged in on a meeting and took MB away right before my eyes. I... watched her struggle and reach out to me. She kept calling for me... I wanted so desperately to help her..."
Samus soon felt sympathy for Madeline and what she had witnessed. Her daughter was taken away from her before her very eyes. The hatchling had been taken before Samus's very eyes. The similarities were almost eerie. Samus reached out to Madeline with sympathy in her voice. "Why didn't you?"
"While it's true I treated MB as if she were my daughter - I even resorted to calling her 'Melissa' - I knew the decision to change her programming was for the best, at the time. Looking back, I wish I could have done more to protect her. However, my unwillingness to help caused a disturbing reaction in her that day... She became venomous and fixated on me."
It suddenly became clear just what transpired on the Bottle Ship. Once 'Melissa' had felt abandoned and hunted by her adoptive mother and those who had created her, she telepathically commanded the special forces to revolt and kill everyone aboard the station, and the station soon fell into complete chaos and disorder. Adding to the already dangerous situation was the newly cloned Ridley, who had been masquerading as a harmless pet of the researchers. His presence caused the already volatile creatures to fly into a bloodthirsty frenzy.
Madeline froze, her eyes fixed on Samus. "I believe MB is trying to get revenge on the Federation... and it's quite possible that all humans have now become a target of her hatred. She's backed into a corner... and all her hatred in entirely focused on you and me at this point."
Samus reached out to Madeline and gripped her shoulder gently. "You're safe now. The Federation Army General who is here now will secure your safety. Both he and I will make certain that no harm comes to you."
Samus watched as Madeline's eyes and mouth opened wide, a gasp escaping her throat. Turning around, Samus came to look upon the form of MB, her eyes burning with hatred as she pointed a freeze gun at Samus and Madeline.
"Melissa! Please... don't do this. Listen to what I have to say. You... you don't want to do this." Madeline explained as she calmly and slowly approached the android.
Samus issued a warning that fell on deaf ears. "Madeline! Get back!"
But Madeline continued to step ever closer to her "daughter". Her voice, calm and collected, was one of reason and acknowledgment of her failure. "I'm sorry for everything that happened to you, Melissa. I never wished for any of this to happen. I'm so sorry. But... it's okay now..."
The plea had done nothing to lower MB's guard, the gun still fixed on Madeline. Her voice was emotionless. "You. You abandoned me. You betrayed me. You must pay the price for what you have done."
Tears welled behind Madeline's green eyes. "I'm so sorry, Melissa. My decision to do nothing to help you haunts me to this day. But we can get past this, starting right now. I promise. Please, find it within yourself to forgive me..."
A mother's plea to her daughter. It was one conflict Samus refused to involve herself in, so long as the situation allowed it. All she could do was watch as the mother and daughter stood mere feet apart from one another, and merely looked into each other for any signs of the bond that held them together. The tension was heavy in the room, but there was evidence that Madeline's tearful plea had broken through MB's stone heart; the android slowly lowered the freeze gun to the floor.
Suddenly, however, the tension in the air soon exploded into chaos as Melissa soon found herself frozen in suspended animation by an unidentified assailant and numerous Federation Army soldiers charged into the room with their rifles pointed at Samus and Madeline. Samus instinctively shielded Madeline with her outstretched arm and began to slowly back up, her Arm Cannon fixed on the soldiers.
"Nice and easy, Hunter. Don't move!" one of the soldier's announced as he approached with rifle fixed on Samus.
But Samus couldn't move back any further. Instead, she continued to point her weapon at the soldiers who began to swarm her and the woman in her custody. "Stay close to me, Madeline."
From behind the approaching soldiers, Samus could see MB's frozen body beginning to thaw from the ground up rather quickly. And once she was completely thawed, the enraged android attacked with a vengeance. Using her powers of telepathy, several large, decorative orbs that adorned the second floor of the room suddenly began to glow and soon transformed into several dangerous bio-forms known as Debrachians, who immediately went about attacking the helpless soldiers and Samus without mercy.
"There's too many of them!"
"They're too fast!"
Samus could hear the screams of the soldiers as they tried in vain to fell the large, agile super soldiers. And with a couple of them acting as guards over MB, Samus was finding it difficult to put an end to the bloodshed and eliminate the vengeful android once and for all.
Madeline screamed over the chaos. "You have to stop her, Samus! Stop her before it's too late!"
"But she'll die! That's your daughter, Madeline!" Samus replied as she continued to ward off the relentless Debrachians with missile shots.
"She's too far gone! She has decided her fate! But you mustn't allow her to decide the fate of innocent lives!"
That was all Samus needed to hear. As the Debrachians guarding MB reverted into small, green orbs in order to recover and the other two were focused on Samus and the soldiers, Samus was about to fire a charged Plasma Beam shot when MB suddenly turned to ice once more before her eyes. With the android at Samus' mercy, the heavily injured mercenary fired the charged Plasma shot at MB. The shot blew a hole clean through her torso and shattered her body into a million frozen little pieces. And with no one to control them now, the Debrachians soon reverted back to their original orb shape, now motionless on the floor.
Samus breathed a sigh of relief, her body all but spent, before collapsing to the floor on her hands and knees, Varia Suit fading from her form to reveal the tattered blue bodysuit underneath. She could go now, peacefully into that good night, her mission here finally accomplished.
Then, from the shadows of the open doors, a weak smile crept across her mouth as Adam rushed the door to her side.
"Adam..." she murmured, half-smiling. "Mission...accomplished. Now help me...to my ship."
"Samus. Don't talk. Save your strength. You're going to make it, understand?" Adam replied calmly before bringing Samus's right arm around his shoulders and bringing her slowly to her feet. He issued orders to the reinforcements that had just entered the room. "Inform Col-"
"That won't be necessary, General Malkovich." a gruff voice interjected from above suddenly.
Colonel Richards of the Galactic Federation Army descended from the second floor of the room. Coming from the transport lift, the salty old veteran approached Adam and properly saluted him.
"You performed admirably, General, as per usual. However, I am sorry to hear about what happened to your men. May they rest with honor." The gruff old Colonel turned his attention to the bounty hunter, recognizing her immediately yet coldly choosing to ignore her as she stood bleeding against the General. Like much of the military's rank and file, he didn't particularly hold people like Samus in high regards and often blamed third parties such as herself for the low morale that had been infecting his beloved military ever since the start of the Space Pirate war years ago. "Can't seem to keep that dog of yours at home, I see, General," snickered the Colonel before turning his attention to two of his men currently restraining Dr. Bergman, issuing his next directive while gesturing for the door, "Take her away."
Madeline broke away from the duo of soldiers restraining her and rushed to join Samus and the soldier assisting her. "No! Samus!" she called, adding, "Somebody help her! Please!"
Adam calmly interjected, though his eyes remained fixed – and glaring – at the Colonel. The General felt a similar way about him as the Colonel felt about Samus. But unlike Colonel Richards, Adam kept his misgivings about the often outspoken Colonel to himself. "She's going to make it, Dr. Bergman." His gray eyes narrowed then, still fixed on the older man in front of him. "Colonel Richards, I have my orders on behalf of the Supreme Chairman to secure and escort any survivors to safety. If anyone is going to be 'taking' Dr. Bergman away, it's going to be me and the bounty hunter you so kindly referred to as a 'dog' – she has just as much clearance to be here as you and your unit. And she will be shown the proper respect so long as she is within my presence. Is that understood?"
The Colonel shot Adam a cold, calculating glare, eyes narrowing. "...Very well, General. Rest assured, my men have this station secure..."
"So you do, Colonel." Adam replied stoically before turning his attention to Madeline. "Please come with me, Dr. Bergman." he said before the trio of survivors of what would forever be known as the "Bottle Ship Incident" freely made their way out of the Bio-weapon Research Center and back to the docking bay.