Metroid: Mission Alpha

Episode 11: Something Must Be Done!

After traveling on Consteterna, Samus's symptoms of the Electrifier's effects had worsened enough that she knew she could not keep going. Alpha and she finally were going back to HQ to see what should be done.

In the HQ, Michael was in the entrance room when Carol hurried over to him. "I've been doing some research on the Electrifier," she said, "We must get Samus back here right away!"

"Wait-here she comes now," Michael said.

The doors opened, and Samus came in with Alpha. "Hello, Michael and Carol," she said, "We've returned." Fortunately, the confusion she'd been experiencing had eased up enough for her to make it back safely.

Suddenly, Michael saw something strange. Samus's Power Suit appeared to be…glowing faintly. "Samus, you need to remove your Power Suit, now!" he exclaimed.

Since Michael wasn't one to order others around, Samus could tell this was more of an urgent warning. She immediately pushed the button to remove the suit. A moment later, the Power Suit was surrounded in a blast of electricity. When the electricity faded, Samus said, "That could have been deadly if I'd been in the Power Suit. No doubt it was Master Greblai and Master Silhouite's attempt to finish me off!"

"I'll ask Tim to look at it," Michael said, "In the meantime, I think Carol needs to talk with you." Samus agreed, and so Alpha and she followed Carol to the Bio-Scanner room.

Using the Bio-Scanner, Carol made another scan. This time, there was no yellow ring around Samus's body on the scan; instead, there were numerous yellow areas within her body. Carol looked concerned. "It's gotten worse. At first, the electricity was in your skin, causing sensations of static electricity. Then, it moved into your muscles, where it caused a lack of control over them. Now it's in your nerves and is disrupting their signals, causing pain, confusion, and changes in the senses," the last sentence seemed hard for her to say, "If nothing is done in the next few hours, it will move into the vital organs and cause certain death."

Alpha yelped in shock. Samus knelt down to pet him, though she hadn't been expecting that either. "So, what can we do about it?" she asked.

"There is a procedure we can do to remove the excess electricity from your body."

"It's my only choice if I want to live," Samus replied, "Let's do it."

"All right, let me fill you in on the details," Carol answered, "The procedure will be performed by two members of my medical team-one for preparations and one to monitor your vitals-and myself. I will be handling the actual procedure. I will attach you to a machine that absorbs electricity, using four electrodes. The machine will remove electricity from your body until your electrical levels are normal. The procedure itself is simple and shouldn't take long."

"I see. Is there anything else I should know?"

"The only thing you need to do to prepare is wear different clothing," Carol responded, "The electrodes will be placed on your arms and legs, away from any vital spots, and they must be placed on the surface of your skin." Samus knew what Carol meant-the clothing she normally wore covered her arms and legs entirely. "Also, to prevent any discomfort and so you will remain still, you will be asleep during the procedure."

Carol continued, "The risks are very low. If too little electricity is removed, the problem will not be solved, and removing too much could be fatal. But the machine will notify me when your electrical levels are normal, so I'll be sure to stop it at the right time. There is no recovery time except for the time needed to fully awaken."

"All right," Samus replied, "I'll go get ready."

"I'll call two members of the medical team. We'll begin as soon as you're ready."

Samus went back to the Gunship to change her clothing, then came back to the main room, where Alpha, Eta, Michael, Tim, Carol, and two medical team members waited. Alpha and Eta went over to her, whimpering with worry. She petted them to comfort them. "Don't worry, I'll be fine," she said softly, "This won't take long. I'll be back and doing better before you know it." Then she stood up and followed Carol and the medical team members.

"Good luck, Samus," Michael and Tim said. After Samus had gone into the procedural room, Tim went back to look at the Power Suit. Michael, Alpha, and Eta went to the research room to wait.

In the research room, Alpha paced back and forth while Eta lay on the floor quietly. Both of them seemed concerned. Soon Alpha walked over to Michael and whimpered. Michael patted the Snacanid's head. "Don't worry," he said, "Samus will be all right. She's been through things much more difficult than this before." Alpha looked at him. "Try this," the HQ leader continued, "Instead of thinking about what Samus is going through right now, think about how she'll be able to adventure with you again after this is all over with. Wouldn't that make you happy?" Alpha smiled weakly and nodded.

During the rest of the wait, Alpha thought about what it would be like when Samus was back to normal, and it helped to pass the time. Still, even though the wait was no more than an hour, it felt like it had been hours when Carol finally came in. Everyone looked at her, waiting for the answer. She was smiling. "I'm pleased to announce that the procedure was a success," she said, "Samus handled it quite well, and we were able to remove all the excess electricity from her body. She's awake, so you may see her now."

Alpha and Eta barked excitedly and ran into the procedural room, where Samus was sitting up. Even though the drowsiness had not totally worn off yet, she felt much better-no static electricity, paralysis, pain, confusion, blurred vision, or faded hearing. Finally, her mind was clear again, and she was greeted by two joyful Snacanids who jumped up beside her and licked her. Samus chuckled lightly and gave them a hug. "It's great to see both of you," she said, "I'm glad things are better too. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to feel normal again!"

Later, Samus, Alpha, and Eta went back to the main room, where Michael and Carol were. "How are you doing, Samus?" Michael asked.

"Much better. Thanks to Carol and her team, I'm ready to save the last Eternal Orb!"

"About that," Tim said, coming into the room, "The electric shock damaged your Power Suit pretty badly. I can fix it, but it's going to take some time. Can you carry out your mission without it?"

"I'll have to try," Samus replied, "Even if I won't have my Power Suit, I'll still have my Paralyzer and Alpha-and this time, no complications from the Electrifier!"

"Good luck to both of you," Michael said, "Master Greblai and Master Silhouite have already arrived on Foreterna, but I've been keeping track of their movements-they are still searching, so there is still time. I'll keep watching and researching and will inform you of anything you should know."

"All right. We'll be careful and will do whatever we can," Samus replied. Alpha nodded.

A short time later, Samus was back in the Gunship, in her usual outfit, with Alpha. "Now that I'm back to normal, we can focus more on the mission at hand," she told her ally, "Are you ready, Alpha?" Alpha nodded in agreement, so Samus started to control the Gunship. "Master Greblai and Master Silhouite had a clever, evil plan with the Electrifier, but they again underestimated the Interspace Federation," she said, "This time, we'll be ready for them-and nothing will stand in our way!"

Alpha looked out the window at the stars. Next it was finally time to save Foreterna's Eternal Orb in a real showdown. Even if it was their last chance to protect Eterna, Samus and Alpha knew that the chances were more in their favor this time. And so, with constant determination, they felt new-found confidence as the Gunship flew off to the next adventure.

(Original story from December 2016)