Metroid: Mission Alpha
Episode 6: Snacanid Mystery
It was nighttime, and Samus, Alpha, and Eta were ready to get some rest before their next mission. "Goodnight, Alpha and Eta," Samus said after turning out the lights, to which the sleepy Snacanids responded with a muffled sound. Soon, all three of them fell asleep.
Eventually, Samus woke to the morning sun shining brilliantly. Something didn't seem right as she sat up, but she wasn't sure why. "Something seems…different," she thought, "I feel shorter, and my tail…wait-my TAIL?!" She looked back in surprise to see she did have a tail, a scaly green one with a yellow rattler on the tip! Samus leapt out of bed and ran over to a mirror, where she got the shock of her life-staring back at her was a female Snacanid! "I've become a Snacanid!" she exclaimed.
Hearing the commotion, Alpha and Eta came into the room. They ran over to Samus in curiosity, making a confused and surprised sound. When Samus turned around, she noticed that she could see a pink glow around Alpha and Eta. Even stranger, she could somehow understand their cries while still being able to speak herself. They were asking her who she was and what happened. "It's me, Samus! Do you know how this happened?" she said. Alpha and Eta shook their heads.
"Maybe Michael will know something about this," Samus said. She tried to grab her Paralyzer, but it was difficult with paws, so she grabbed it with her teeth, which had become fangs. Then Alpha and Eta followed her out of the Gunship and into the HQ. They went to the door of the main room, which was closed. "Michael, are you in there? I need to speak with you," Samus called out, moving her Paralyzer to her tail.
"Just a moment," Michael's voice came from inside the room. The sound of him fumbling with the doorknob was heard, then…the door opened to reveal a male Snacanid wearing glasses!
"Michael! You're a Snacanid too?!" Samus said in surprise.
"Samus? I was about to ask you the same thing!" Michael said, "When I woke up this morning, I was a Snacanid! I have no idea how it happened. I tried to research for a possible answer, but I can't use the computers with these paws."
"The same thing happened to me," Samus replied, "Did you try the library? Maybe one of the books will have an answer."
A short time later, in the library, Michael managed to knock a book titled "Veninian Lore" off a shelf. He turned the pages with his thin tail until he found something. "Aha! 'Snacanid Transformation'!" he said, "According to this, anyone who forms a close enough bond with any Snacanid will eventually transform into one! He or she will gain all the characteristics of a Snacanid but will still have the ability to speak. All this is caused by the power of the Snacanids, and the only way to reverse it is to stay away from them."
"But we can't leave Alpha and Eta! They're so much help to us, and it would be hard for all of us!" Samus said in disbelief. Alpha and Eta whimpered, saying they felt the same concern.
"We couldn't even if we wanted to," Michael replied, "Without hands, we can't use our ships to go to Venine. At the same time, if we stay Snacanids, we can't continue our missions since we can't leave this planet."
"What should we do, then?" Samus inquired.
Michael sighed. "I think for now we should talk to Tim and Carol and see if they have been affected as well. If they are still humans we may have a chance, and either way they may have another idea."
Samus, Michael, Alpha, and Eta walked down the hall toward the mechanic room. "By the way, what do Snacanids eat?" Samus asked.
"Well, they're carnivores for the most part. Their favorite food is the Galamin, a mouse-like Veninian creature. Sometimes they also eat a Veninian fruit called a Snaca fruit to get the vitamins they need."
"Doesn't sound too appetizing. Let's figure all this out before we start craving rodents."
Despite the situation, Michael chuckled lightly and opened the door to the mechanic room. "Tim! Are you in there?" he called out, but no one was there. He opened the door of the nearby medical room. "Carol? That's strange. Neither of them is in their room."
"Let's check out some of the other rooms. Maybe they're taking a break," Samus suggested. They all looked around but found no trace of the other HQ leaders.
"Something is not right here," Michael said nervously, "Tim and Carol never leave the building without telling me. It's as if they just vanished!"
Suddenly, Samus heard a yelp from Alpha and Eta. She looked back, but no one was there. "What happened to Alpha and Eta?!" she said in alarm.
"The same thing that happened to Tim and Carol, I'm afraid," Michael, like Samus, was feeling more uneasy by the minute. This whole event was getting more and more mysterious, with no answers. A moment later, Michael suddenly cried, "Samus, look out!" Samus and he leapt out of the way of a shadowy tentacle. They could see a Silhouite, and it was carrying Alpha and Eta!
"A Silhouite?! Drop them, now!" Samus demanded, pointing her Paralyzer forward.
The Silhouite only tightened its grip on the struggling Snacanids and lashed out with one tentacle, knocking the Paralyzer away from Samus and breaking it. "I will never let them go!" it snarled.
"What have you done with Tim and Carol?" Michael asked angrily.
"I have already taken care of them…"
"How dare you!" Michael leapt at the Silhouite but was hit by a blast of darkness and fell back. Then, the Silhouite grabbed him.
"Michael, no!" Samus cried out. She also leapt at the Silhouite, but it hit her with its free tentacle, sending her flying into the wall. Her right side stung from the impact and her legs felt shaky, but she stood up anyway, ready for a fight.
"Samus!" Michael called out, "You still have your Chozo DNA, so the Silhouite can't do much to you. But as a Snacanid, you can't do much to it either, so your only option is to run. Don't worry about us-just save yourself!"
"But-" Samus started to protest, but at that moment, the Silhouite vanished.
"You will never escape!" the Silhouite's voice echoed despite its absence, and suddenly the HQ began to shake. Pieces of the ceiling were crumbling.
While Samus had few fears, this situation was definitely out of the ordinary for her. She stepped back in fear, then started to run as fast as she could go, which was not much faster than usual since she was already exceptionally swift. This can't be happening! she thought. She was unable to do her job, her friends were doomed, and unless she could find an exit, she soon would be too. Samus dodged falling bits of ceiling as she dashed down the hall; she had never been so afraid in all her time as a bounty hunter.
Finally Samus rushed into another room where strangely, all was quiet. Breathing hard, she scanned her surroundings-the room was filled with cages containing various types of creatures. "The species research room," she said to herself, "I've got to get these creatures to safety!" But before she could free a single creature, the HQ began to shake again, this time even harder than before. Samus gasped in surprise and frantically tried to avoid the crumbling ceiling debris. The quaking soon caused the cages to fall. One cage hit Samus, knocking her to the ground. As more cages fell on top of her, she felt the fur of the trembling creatures inside rubbing against her face. "No!" she shouted. She was going to be buried alive…she was doomed…
"No!" Samus shouted again. She sat up…there were no cages, just Alpha and Eta sitting on either side of her. She was in her Gunship, and a human again. Instead of on her bed, she was on the floor; that explained the fall, and the rubbing fur must have been Alpha and Eta's attempts to wake her. Samus petted the Snacanids and sighed in relief. "Thanks for waking me up. That was some dream. I remember Michael telling me that Snacanids eat Galamin and Snaca fruit, but the rest, thankfully, was fantasy."
Seeing that it was morning now, the three of them got up. "Now that that's over with, let's get ready for our next mission," Samus said. Alpha and Eta agreed; they, too, were ready.
(Original story from September 2016)