Chapter 18: Revelation

One's worst nightmare is quite possibly what comes back from the unknown. After you've defeated all of what drives your fears, only to see it existing again brings a shiver to your spine. I guess that's why I was so struck by fear when I finally confronted Ridley on the Bottle Ship. He was a being of the unknown as far as I was concerned, but though I had taken him down time and time again, it was the first time that I had come to the realization that Ridley was not a force I could just put down, but one that I had to live with.

At the same time, I'm scared of something else that has also come back from the unknown.

Adam.

The blob on the camera screen was indeed an X. A wriggling mass of living gel, too empowered by its ability to stick to the smooth surface of the lens to make any attempt at acknowledging its chaotic surroundings. The glob of matter pulled and pulled at the side of the camera, trying to pull itself onto a safer surface as a piece of debris struck its entirety. Bits of other X latched onto this one and were absorbed into the yellow mass, but did not seem to contribute to its body at all.

"I'd go into detail, but I'm afraid you know all too well what that is, Samus." said Adam.

Why is there a free-floating X in this part of the sector? These X cannot possibly survive the vacuum of space, as far as we know, but there it was, maintaining its gruesome presence on the camera lens as I continued to stare at it.

Adam continued. "I don't believe you and my father ran any missions together against these things, correct?"

"F-father? What do you mean your father?" I asked.

"Well, I did not stutter, Samus, but I meant-"

The ship rocked. An explosion in the rear. I double-checked. Just outside of it. Adam's tracking system's must have picked up a piece of debris that had some volatile materials in it. Still, it was quite an explosion. The debris must have gotten awfully close to the ship, but we had stayed far enough away to be clear of it. Either that debris got a mind of its own or something sent it there.

Or it wasn't debris at all.

"I've got movement. But it's pretty fast and intermittent." said Adam.

If there was any point that I needed time to think, it was now. But there was no time for that and I knew it just as much as whatever that blip on the radar did. There wasn't much I could do but await the attack and wait for it I did. The ship rocked again and Adam threw out a few calculations on the damage on the ship knowing that it wasn't worth the memory. I'm sure it would have been in the future, but it wasn't much of a ship and it sure as hell wasn't mine.

Then again, I wasn't expecting it to give itself much of an introduction when it showed up, so it was to my surprise to find the source of the destruction and havoc to make itself known after busting through the swing door of the cockpit. It stood what could have only been a few yards away from me, far too concerned with the declining state of the ship to let me leave its gaze. My cannon was already primed.

"Well," said Adam. "I guess I'll let you two get to know each other. But, from the looks of it, it seems that has already been the case."

At least it won't be able to take me down like it could have last time. And I'm sure I'll have to take it out differently, too.

The figure raised its right arm, still cloaked in the dust and debris of the blown-open doorway. Whether or not it would settle did not concern me, I still knew what the glow of its arm meant.

Plasma.

The first shot burnt the very air it ripped through, but I was already in a ball before it even reached the control panel it would destroy. Adam was not very happy about it, but I'd be damned if I would call for repair before taking that thing out. Adam would have to worry about it later.

Another shot glazed a nearby computer screen, but was nowhere near me. Was this thing playing with me? Could it have developed the capacity to do so? Or was it trying to destroy the ship, not me? Am I no longer a threat or does it not know what a threat is?

"Alright, I'm done watching a duck hunt, can you do something about our guest here, Lady?"

I hope he wasn't worrying too much. I was already racing towards my adversary before he could finish that sentence and almost felt it a bit too predictable to just roll right up to it. But it still never moved, save for a small stumble onto its back leg after firing a third shot, that one scorching the floor off to my right. And it still never moved after I planted a few bombs near its feet.

It finally moved. The explosions of the bombs sent it flying into a wall.

"That'll do it." chimed Adam.

It didn't get back up and it sure had no way of doing so. It's lower body was completely ruptured. All that remained was a cluster of goo and a few stray X parasites flying off. The rest of its body had the same qualities. More X continued to break off from its armor and damaged body parts. It heaved before collapsing into a pile of X, all of which burst from their counterparts and raced towards me. I felt a bit of a tingle as the X were absorbed into my body. The effect wasn't much of what it used to be.

Adam debriefed me on the damage of the ship. It was enough to keep my attention until he disclosed that the ship was still usable, so after that point my mind drifted off back into the sea of thoughts it was usually caught up in.

The X were still alive. And still capable. But, what exactly it was truly capable of was still unknown. This was truly not the extent of what that point could be.

"It is truly an odd sight. Past reports described the X as being much more resilient in their copying. There's a lot wrong with this picture here, Samus." Adam explained.

"I know, Adam...I know." There wasn't much I could add. He knew as much as I did. He was there on the BSL with me. Everything I knew, he knew, too. Maybe even more. His consciousness was there when the decision was made to investigate SR-388. He was one of the many AI to help with that decision.

"Adam, when you and the rest of the council that decided to go to SR-388, did you all weigh the risk of realizing an X outbreak?" I asked.

"What do you mean? I was not on that council, my father's AI was." he replied.

"Why do you keep saying that? You were there. You're Adam, not your father!"

"Yes he is. Adam Sr. And I'm Adam Jr., Samus. I thought that's why you were calling me Adam. Weren't you aware of this?"

No. No I wasn't. I was not aware of Adam having a son. And him being dead, too.