Respite
"Thank you Aran, you are cleared to dock, bay seventeen. Good to
have you back."
Samus nodded to the face on her display. All he would ever see of
her was the red helmet and green visor that would be appearing on his
own screen, but then that *was* the face of Samus Aran as far as many
people were concerned. If she hadn't made as big a name for herself
as she had over the years most people wouldn't even have known she
was a she until she spoke to them. At least this time around she
would get some well earned time to herself, and taste a little real
recycled air. "Thank you Cassidi. Commencing docking. Aran out."
***
It did grate on the bounty hunter slightly that when a regular
Joe or Joette wanted to get changed they just removed a few layers of
cloth. When she wanted to it meant three hours in surgery and another
hour of electrostatic nerve therapy, but as she walked down the hall
the sense of freedom was euphoric. No stares at a large shouldered
cybernetic thing that had become a byword for power and the often
impending horror that was the metroid species, just the occasional
glance at a tall and attractive blonde woman.
Nobody considered for even a moment that she was the imposing
gold, red and green presence that kept coming back to the station,
and that suited her very well. No more assisted muscle support, no
more heads-up display, and no more automated sanitary equipment. It
was strange, almost like slumming it. Not having the suit deprived
her of so many things that she had grown accustomed to, almost to the
point of dependence, but it was a chance to be free for a little
while. And with that pleasant thought she strode into the bar.
***
The barman nodded at the woman. He got all types in his dimly lit
little corner of the station, but every once in a while someone would
turn up that stood out simply by being there. Perhaps it was the fact
that it was hard to define her age, or maybe her almost roguish
outfit. The tight jeans and red tank top were simple enough but her
jacket was tied at the bottom, and her left arm sat bare on the
tabletop while the right wore its sleeve and a black glove concealed
her hand. Coupled with her attractive blue eyes and long blonde hair
she was a hard face to forget, so he could remember from her last
visit that the glove hid a jointed metal coupling system that
protruded slightly from her skin, like a metal skeleton's hand half
buried in her own with a linked line of synaptic ports running
halfway up her forearm.
That meant she was probably a heavy tech worker of some sort,
though she never spoke about herself. It also meant that the sound of
her rapping knuckles at the bar was instantly noticeable, and she
wasn't the type of customer you kept waiting long. This type weren't
likely to get rowdy over such little things, but they were good
customers when they turned up, and they kept the riff-raff out.
Said riff-raff that week however were also in, and seemed to have
decided to take their chances if their noise level and lack of
subtlety were anything to go by. He got the woman her drink and left
her to herself as the youths' attentions focused on her. It was his
long experience that the quiet mysterious types didn't rise easily,
and Samus didn't disappoint him, paying them the same attention
anyone else would have paid the fly that slowly crawled across the
unwatched television monitor.
It took another two shots for one of the boys to work up the guts
to finally swagger over to her. The barman knew this one couldn't
have pulled a credit card out of a dead thief's hand in his
inebriated condition let alone pick up a woman, and he suspected the
he would only have fared a little better when sober, but that wasn't
his business. He just gave the bouncer at the door a nod to let him
know he might be needed.
***
Patricia Lands wasn't quite what people tended to expect when
they went looking to hire the best technician and machine worker on
the station. She was attractive if you happened to like youthful
seeming girls who didn't pay any attention to their looks. Her cute
appearance took years off her, so people generally thought she was
still in her teens. Her dark brown hair was ragged and almost
criminally short and the tech's overalls or lounging outfits she wore
didn't do a thing for her otherwise pleasant, if rather slight
figure. Summed up in three words she would have been 'schoolgirl
grease monkey'. She'd decked the client who'd called her that.
Not that she was a violent person by any means, she just didn't
have the time or patience for arrogant idiots. Being good at what you
do tends to get you more work than you can handle, as she had found
out all too soon. She was one of the fortunate few for whom skipping
school had paid off, and she'd spent that time tinkering and heckling
the people on the station as it was being built, learning what she
wanted to through observation and unofficial understudying. After
all, the school had been planetside back then, and nobody had the
time to make sure a child who had smuggled herself up was
successfully taken back down again.
That being the way it went Patricia had missed out on her social
life altogether, but in return she had become the most accomplished
hand at mechanics, electrics and cybernetics on the man-made city
that was Cassidi station. The only reason she wasn't working for the
hi-tech researchers and lab workers was that she preferred being able
to pick her jobs.
One of those jobs, some years ago, had been an up and coming
bounty hunter the lab tech-heads had sent her way after a minor
problem with some serious alien cybernetic hardware that they alone
hadn't been able to deal with. Quite a few people said that she was
the only reason Samus Aran kept coming back, but Patricia didn't
believe that for a second. There wasn't always a new request or
commission when Samus showed up, and she was too modest to take it as
an ego trip. Still, the pair of them had forged an unlikely
friendship in the times the hunter did return, so she did wonder why
she hadn't come to see her yet. She'd seen the ship arrive hours ago,
but she tried to put it out of her mind and went back to her wiring.
It didn't really matter if she wasn't Samus' first port of call, but
having more time to think about her news didn't help her worried
nerves.
***
"I'm not in the mood. Go away."
The drunken youth just grinned as his fourth attempt at
conversation was blown off. "Oh, I can supply the mood babe, trust
me." His mistake was putting his hand on her mostly bare left
shoulder.
Samus let out an annoyed sigh and looked down at the offending
appendage. "If I don't want to talk to you, why should I want your
hand there, or anywhere else except away from me?"
"Hey, lighten up. A guy can buy a girl a drink at least, can't
he?" He emphasised that with a light squeeze on the shoulder.
In a second Samus was facing him, her gloved hand right under his
chin, her thumb, index and little finger extended. It would have been
more impressive if her gun had been there to crack itself open right
at his neck. As it was the youth just backed up a step, hands held up
but still with his smirk on his face. "Woah girl, what is that, some
weird voodoo martial arts?"
Samus looked at the hand in question, as if remembering
something, then turned back to the bar and her drink. The barman
glanced over just in time to see him pluck up the last of his courage
and return his hand for a final line. What that got him was a frown
from the woman, who clenched her right fist around her drink, then
swung her left upwards from the elbow, sending the backs of her
knuckles into his nose, knocking him to the floor.
As far as the barman was concerned the punk had got exactly what
he had asked for, but he wasn't about to have this in his bar, and
before either side could make another move he had motioned to his
bouncer. The huge man by the door picked up two of the youths and
bodily hefted them outside, his friends soon following, while the
barman calmly walked over to Samus. "I'm going to have to ask you to
leave. I'm sure you understand."
The blonde nodded, finishing the last of her drink. "The
atmosphere's gone. Good bourbon though."
***
Patricia knew one of her few friends was there as the sound of
rapping knuckles against the door of her quarters resounded through
the room. She had only told three people to knock instead of using
the door's communicator. The old dock technician who she had studied
under was on planetside leave, her other friend Jill, who she had
lived with growing up was now married and back on earth, so that left
the hunter whose commissions made up a third of her yearly income,
and who was now the only person likely to want to see her for
anything except work.
Even though Samus spent more than half of her life in that suit
of hers, the source of many a commission for the young tech prodigy,
Patricia never failed to find the person she knew was inside. After
years of study, freak accidents, and biomechanical marvels that she
could never hope to fully understand in her lifetime the helmet of
the bizarre armour was the only part that could be removed with any
ease any more. However, even when she left it on somehow it didn't
stop them communicating at all, though Patricia always preferred it
if at least the visor was up. Samus could say a lot with those
crystal blue eyes of hers.
She put down her soldering laser and got the door. For a moment
she didn't even realise who she was looking at. The bounty hunter so
rarely removed that suit completely that it was almost like looking
at a stranger for a second. "Oh! Sam, hi! I was wondering if you'd
turn up this time. What happened to the suit?"
She ushered her friend in and Patricia went back to her work
bench while Samus flopped down onto the bed. She wasn't allowed to do
that in her armour since it ruined the mattress, and also looked
rather stupid. Her technician friend however had never bothered with
more than the one chair in her apartment room. "I needed some time
unplugged Trish. I also thought I'd get a drink before coming round,
but that didn't quite go to plan. I'd forgotten how much it can hurt
when you hit someone without an alloy around your fist."
Patricia rolled her eyes. "You step one foot on the station and
instead of coming to see me you get into a bar fight? Why didn't you
use your right?"
Samus shucked off her jacked and removed her glove, looking at
the metal that ran across the limb's skin. "I didn't want to do
*that* much damage. He was an idiot, not a marked target."
"Maybe, but he wouldn't have done it again!" She gave a cute lop
sided grin and sat back in her chair, the machine behind her on the
table forgotten for now. "So what has the illustrious metroid hunter
managed to do now she's killed all the metroids?"
Samus shrugged from where she lay on the bed, a little annoyed.
"I get enough of that from my contracts, I don't need it here too
Trish. I... ended up laying a few ghosts to rest."
Patricia gave her a sympathetic look. "Chozo?"
Samus nodded. "They were dead before I got there. That was my
last lead. But you're wrong Trish. I'm not naive or egotistic enough
to think I've wiped the metroids out. I should have told you last
time: the Federation has them now. They cloned them. They were how I
escaped BSL with my skin intact, even if I had to fight my way out."
Patricia stared at her wide eyed. "But... why would they do that?
The culture antidote saved your life but..."
Samus nodded, still looking at the ceiling. "The Federation isn't
stupid, and I was right when I started thinking there was more to
them than they were admitting to. Those things are the biggest
natural threat there is, and that means people aren't going to let
them go so easily if they can turn that threat to their advantage.
The Pirates have been trying for years. It's really no surprise the
Federation does it now they have the chance. What if they go
further?"
"Sam," Patricia said, both warning and pleading her friend not to
dredge up that name again.
"A mother metroid. The prime queen. I hadn't been truly terrified
of a metroid in so long, but when I finally broke that thing out of
its shell what was left... it looked almost human. Like a face with
nuclei for eyes, and it was like it knew what I was and how it wanted
to deal with me. It wasn't just aware Trish; it was intelligent
beyond any metroid I've ever seen."
The haunted look in Samus' eyes as she sat up worried Patricia
more that she had done in a long time. "I was helpless. Nothing I did
could hurt it. It knew how to absorb and adapt to everything I tried.
But I found out I could hurt it with its own energy because of the
phazon infection, and that was all that saved me. It was pure luck."
"The Phazon cannon," Patricia said for her.
After the incident on Tallon Four Samus had asked her to make a
weapon modification for her suit. A beam cannon that used phazon. It
was the biggest commission she'd ever asked for. She'd been given the
samples and technical data Samus had copied from her suit and had
been working on the weapon ever since. But she'd never liked it.
There was too much about Phazon that was unknown, and harnessing that
power was far too complicated.
"This prime metroid, it's long dead already Sam. It's been dead
for two years. So are the rest of the metroids there."
Samus knew better than that, and the determination in her eyes
showed it. "I doubt it'll ever be over. I told you, even if I have
wiped out every last wild one still out there, people aren't so
willing to let them go. The phazon virus cured itself, so I can't
rely on that to save me if there is a next time. I need the gun."
But to her surprise Patricia shook her head. "No."
Samus' eyes were wide. "No? What do you mean no?! No you can't or
no you won't?!"
"With enough time and equipment, I might be able to find a way of
doing it, but I won't. It's too dangerous for you..."
"It's a risk I'm willing to take!" Samus practically shouted at
her friend. "Better that than falling to a queen! What if there is
another nest of metroids sitting secluded somewhere out there? Or
maybe there's someone crazy enough to make another prime in their
search for power or a weapon or whatever! And even if they are all
dead, every one of my beams can be countered somehow and the pirates
have been wising up to that! A phazon beam would be effective on
anything, even if it was just a last resort!"
Patricia just continued from where she'd been interrupted.
"...and it's too dangerous for me."
As a dumbstruck Samus stared at her she got up and turned around,
pulling her loose top over her head. Across the lower left of her
bare back a huge shape was outlined in scars, with three jagged
spikes rising up and across to the right of her otherwise clear skin.
"Wh... What happened?" Samus stammered out, at a loss as to what
to think.
"Simple," Patricia replied in a quiet voice, "My hand slipped.
Just a little."
"But..."
"But what? I'm the best?" She asked as she pulled her top back on
and sat back down. "No-one is infallible Sam. Phazon as a fluid and
phazon as an energy are polar opposites, and it's tricky getting it
to work without wasting it. The second I realised I'd missed a
connection in the relay coil I ran for the lab door. Next thing I
knew I was in hospital with over half the muscles in my back burned
off and I was missing a kidney. They got there in time, apparently
the burst could be heard across the station and it shorted power to
the block, but the wound was irradiated."
<Wound,> Samus thought. That was the biggest understatement she'd
ever heard.
"So either they patched me up and I spent the rest of my life in
a wheelchair, or they try a culture graft onto phazon-flashed tissue.
Thankfully the culture took, but the radiation made sure it left the
scarring at the edges." She locked eyes with Samus. "You're one of
the few people I have, but I'm not going to try again, even for you."
"Yeah," Samus said, her sense of responsibility piling guilt on
top of her for what had happened due to her request, and for acting
the way she had about the matter. She tried not to let it show. "It's
okay Trish. I'm just... glad you're okay."
***
Samus found herself lying awake that night, the afternoon's
revelations playing on her mind. It was no secret to the few that
really knew her that she had had a hard life, but she wasn't bitter
or even concerned about that. It was how she lived, and she had
accepted that a long time ago in spite of receiving far more than her
fair share of 'excitement'. Sure, it was exiting when you looked back
with the memory of the adrenaline rushing through your system, but
living it out was a different matter all together. However, when her
life started affecting those around her it worried her.
Samus was no stranger to the hospital table, from the Chozo
finding her in the bloody aftermath of a pirate raid to the
incomprehensible mystery of what her suit had now become and how that
in turn had affected her. All the battles for the last however many
years it was now. It was one thing if she ended up under the knife
because of the way her life had turned out, but having it happen to
someone else, especially a friend like Patricia, was another matter
entirely. Samus wasn't one who liked dealing with guilt. True, she
ran through in her mind, nobody did, but she usually had so little
need to deal with it. Especially from things she had no control over.
At least if she could conclusively say she had screwed up it served
as a good, if unpleasant reminder that might just save her life one
day. This time was different. She hadn't done anything wrong, and
neither had Trish, but the guilt fell on her all the same for being
the one who had made the commission.
Turning it over and over in her head wasn't helping. Looking
back, Trish had been a godsend. When the med-techs had been unable to
deal with her malfunctioning suit the girl had been called in and in
a few hours the armour was back under control.
Armour. Could it even be called that any more? It wasn't just a
metal suit now. It could be virally infected. It was no longer
something she simply put on and plugged her right hand into. It
grafted itself right into her nervous system. It was hardly wetware,
and considering all the connections it made it was a wonder that it
was removable at all any more, but it knew how to connect itself back
up, tracing nerve relays and hooking itself into her body via energy
lines or even direct nerve contact. The small scars around major
nerve junctions were proof of that, and it took less than a minute to
for it to hook back into her, but she didn't like the fact it felt
like a return to the way things should be as much as it was
uncomfortable. She hadn't been out of it six hours and she could
already feel the 'phantom limb syndrome' of weapons, image modes and
capabilities that simply weren't there now. Falling asleep was so
much easier in the suit. She could consciously get her body to relax,
black out the visor and be dreaming in minutes.
She'd been staring at the ceiling for over an hour now.
***
Sam hadn't been by to see her that day.
Suddenly that thought seemed rather silly to the young tech
specialist. To almost everyone else she was Samus Aran, a bounty
hunter who deserved your respect, and a healthy amount of caution. To
her she was Sam, a rather quiet but driven friend who she chatted
inanely with when she was lucky enough to have her there. Patricia
wasn't really sure when Samus had become Sam in her mind. She was
sure the hunter hadn't liked her for a while. She had been in pain
and shaken that her suit had actually malfunctioned but all Patricia
could do was enthuse over the wayward armour. It wasn't a good way to
get to know someone, that was for sure, but at least it had been
before the Zebes incidents and Samus' slow climb into cult fame. All
they had talked about was Chozo technology, but with that had come
talk of the people themselves, a matter close to Samus' heart.
And Samus had asked her to make some augmentations to the suit's
life support system, one of the few things Patricia had managed to
suss out then. One month and a mission directive later she was back,
and what little conversation they had had was cordial, and underlined
with a sense of mutual respect that each side rarely showed. When
she'd come back after her mission Patricia had wanted a full briefing
on how it had gone, especially on how well she had adapted her work
to suit Samus' armour. The hunter never visited the station for long,
but that week they'd spent most of it around each other. When it came
time for her to leave Patricia had simply said 'See ya Sam,' a
friendly flippancy that she didn't even realise until Samus had given
a wry smirk from behind her visor with the reply, 'Later Trish.'
And they had actually been friends from then, and somewhere along
the line the names had stuck. They had nothing much in common, they
both led very different lives, but they had somehow found themselves
able to relax that bit more around each other, cut off from most
people by reputation, genetics, or social inexperience. Samus could
have something of the Chozo's philosophical bent in her thanks to the
influence of their blood, and it gave Patricia's expansive mind
something to play off. When they weren't just making idle banter or
doing business that is.
Patricia put the small box back in the security locker above her
bed. There was also a good amount of fear on each side. Sam worried
about her wasting her life away on the station. She could easily make
so much more of herself, and live in a place where the crime rate
wasn't as high. She was an ideal target in a place where criminals
weren't afraid to use lethal force to get what they wanted; she was
short, thin, attractive and profitable. If someone did go for her she
wouldn't have been able to put up even a short fight. Patricia didn't
think about that. She'd lived there most of her life, so she wasn't
about to move now. The crime wasn't that bad, her apartment was in
the better end of the station, and she had enough reputation that
people would stick up for her, and notice if she was gone.
On the other side Patricia feared for Sam's life. Her reputation
had grown on her willingness to hunt metroids, the largest natural
threat there was. And Sam was right, where there were metroids, there
were people who were willing to risk everything for the power they
held. Her suit was a technological marvel, but it didn't make her
invulnerable. Patricia knew better than most that the jobs that Sam
took, and the events that she had been thrown into, could easily have
killed her many times over. But Samus wasn't going to stop and settle
down, or even decide to give up taking such dangerous jobs. Whether
they were contracts or undertaken of her own volition, Sam went after
pirates, metroids, the X, because somewhere in there it she felt she
had to do it. She knew she had a chance, and not many others did.
What otherwise might take dozens of troops who might not make it out,
she could do alone thanks to her suit, her tenacity and her simple
skill at what she did. There was also something personal there,
especially with the pirates. Something told her that Sam would even
have gone up against the Federation if they crossed that line. Each
time Sam talked about them she seemed to have less faith in them, and
after their argument she worried that perhaps they already had.
So, when Sam's path led her back they were always glad to see
each other, and they could spend a little of their lives being
themselves in each others company. Patricia doubted she could do
without that now.
But then, Sam hadn't been around after they had parted the day
before last, and she only hoped she hadn't made a mistake. Or that
Sam wasn't making too much out of what had happened to want to face
her.
***
Cassidi station was a self governed public city station, one of
many among under the flag of the Federation. However, those powers
that were had far more important things to do than pick into the
workings of each and every world that was counted as being within
their jurisdiction, let alone those of each station. Though housing
an advanced scientific community Cassidi didn't make special deals
with the organisation that it was a protectorate of, so relied on its
own commerce for its runnings. Consequently many luxuries that other
stations had, Cassidi did not, and its governors had to spend
prudently to survive. Because of that they had relied on manual
dockside security and customs longer than perhaps they should have,
meaning that the slowly blinking numbers in one of the security
containers went unnoticed as it lay among the other stored cargo.
12:43
***
"Hey Trish."
Patricia stopped mid step in surprise. "Sam?"
"I was actually coming to see you," Samus replied, to Patricia's
relief. The hunter reached into the pocket of her blue-black leather
shorts and pulled out a card, tossing it to her friend. The youthful
technician looked down at it and frowned.
"I don't want it," she said, holding out the credit card for
Samus to take back. She didn't really expect her to though, and her
friend didn't surprise her. It didn't matter how much Samus had put
on there, she wasn't going to accept it without a fight.
"You're going to take it whether you like it or not," Samus
replied, her voice hard. "Medical expenses, danger money, whatever.
And let's get inside. You don't talk about business in a corridor."
Patricia reluctantly gave a nod and opened up her door again, the
both of them going inside. Once out of public earshot however
Patricia was right back were she left off. "I'm not taking your
money. I quit the job, and of all the things I could want from you I
sure as hell don't want pity, so don't you dare start doing that to
me."
"I don't want to argue with you Patricia..."
Hearing her name like that made her stop as Samus continued.
"...and this isn't about pity. You're a professional, and pros
get paid for expenses."
Patricia grasped the card painfully as her arm fell to her side.
"I don't want to fight either. I was getting worried about you."
Samus blinked as her eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Worried?
Why?"
"Well, I haven't seen you for over a day." She thought about
that. It sounded truly pathetic. "And, well, I guess I've gotten used
to you being around when you're here. I thought you might've gone
already... or something."
Samus couldn't help but chuckle and took her usual seat on the
bed, looking for all the world like a regular woman instead of
someone who made her living hunting. Seeing her leaning back on her
hands like that in her leather vest and shorts reminded Patricia of
so much of their past. For as much as it showed her off, her
cybernetically enhanced arm included, Sam liked that outfit.
"No, I'm here for a while yet. I just needed some time to think.
Sorry for giving you a hard time last time."
"That's alright." Patricia plugged the credit card into her room
terminal and the money put itself into her account. "How can you
afford that anyway?" she asked, a little guilty about accepting the
large amount it had shown.
"My bounties pay well," Samus replied, the truth being
transparent in its incompleteness.
"Yeah, and you spend most of it on energy re-fills, ammunition,
fuel, suit checkups and mods."
Samus rolled her eyes and shrugged. "It's not like I have
anything else to spend it on. Anyway, I said the lab techs could
check out my suit while I'm here, so I can afford it. They'll pay
anything to get a proper look at it any chance they can get." She
gave a sigh as Patricia took a seat.
"Last night I realised I never thanked you for what you did when
the X had me."
"What?" Patricia blinked, becoming quiet. "What are you talking
about? I couldn't even get there before you were up and gone again."
Samus shook her head. "But you sent them all the suit information
you had, and you probably know just as much as the techs at
Federation headquarters. Maybe I'm not so comfortable about them
knowing so much now, but it helped save my life. So thanks." She gave
a quick huff and shook herself to get rid of her reflective mood,
sitting back against the wall. "Anyway, we didn't get a chance to
catch up properly last time. What have you been up to?"
"Nothing much," Patricia replied. It always struck her as a
little odd that Samus was willing to put up with her talking about
such mundane things as they must have seemed to her, but then it went
both ways. She had no clue about bounty hunting, but it didn't stop
them talking about it. It was a sort of mutual understanding, nobody
else listened to them ramble, so they rambled to each other. Well,
Samus had the press and a few hero worshippers, but apparently they
were worse than being ignored.
"The docker's guild got me in to repair their main ship coupling
systems so I worked on that for ages. They said with all the repeated
repair costs they've had for them they'd rather pay through the nose
for me and get it done properly. Their words."
"Always nice to hear you're appreciated eh?" Samus said with a
wry smile.
"Oh the guy before that didn't even say thanks! A full wetware
cybernetics job with the guys at the labs and all I got was a nod and
a credit card. Labs techs get all the glory."
Samus agreed with the fed up sound in her voice. "Sounds very
familiar. Work with a big name and it's 'congratulations, here's your
pay, we really are grateful, now we've got work to do so kindly get
lost." She sighed, knowing how much of a whinge she must have
sounded. "Sometimes it's the small, unimportant ones. They mean
something to the contract holder even if it's nothing to you. It's
worth doing just for that."
"That's why I stay freelance," Patricia agreed. "You needn't take
all the ones you do either."
Samus almost chuckled. Patricia could really lack subtlety
sometimes. "Nice hint. I'm fine with my jobs, it's the people behind
them that annoy me, and I don't usually have to be around them long."
Patricia gave an embarrassed smile. "It was worth a try. Ever
think about the future though?"
"Not really," Samus replied. "My life seems to have a reasonable
idea about where it wants to go without me interfering, so there's
not much point. I suppose I'll get too old for bounty hunting
eventually, but I can deal with that when I come to it." She gave her
friend an appraising look. "What about your plans?"
Patricia looked down at her knees, a little embarrassed. "I guess
that depends on marriage."
Samus smiled at slight blush that formed across the girl's
cheeks.
"I think I'm ready to consider that now," Patricia continued. "I
guess I'm fine as I am, but I'd like to be with someone, assuming I'd
find someone like that."
This was very new to Samus. Among all their talks, debates and
commiserations relationships had never come up as a topic for real
discussion before. Seeing as they weren't social people by nature it
was a little surprising, although to be fair it wasn't as though she
had assumed Trish was romantically dead. It was a side of her that
was interesting to see, cute and embarrassed rather than quietly
confident. "So... any candidates yet," she asked, gently probing.
Patricia shook her head. "Not really. Well, yes, but I didn't do
anything about it when I had the chance. Somehow I doubt I will. I
like the idea, but it kind of scares me too. I wouldn't know how to
deal with being in a relationship even if I was."
"Twit," Samus reprimanded with amusement. "Just ask them and be
yourself. If you try to be someone else it'll just fall apart because
it's all an act. Swallow your fear for a second and it's all over,
and win or lose you can get on with it."
"I suppose you're right..." She gave a small smile. "But I'm a
coward. I will eventually I guess."
"Good girl," Samus said with approval. It was nice to be able to
play the big sister a little. It was then that Patricia managed to
put her off balance though.
"The way you say it, you sound like you've been there before?"
Even as a statement it was an unspoken question.
"No. I've never really been in the position to deal with romance.
It's just common sense though, you don't lose anything by going for
it except your hopes, and if you're rejected they were false hopes
anyway. Better to know, get on and maybe find it for real than live
on dreams that won't happen, right?"
"Very pragmatic Sam."
Samus shrugged a little, then swung her legs up and crossed them
where she sat on the bed. She looked like a girl at a sleepover,
albeit one somewhere in her twenties wearing a blue-black leather
vest and shorts. Patricia suddenly had an image of sleepover Samus in
yellow and blue striped pyjamas with a fluffy metroid doll in her
arms, but promptly tried to banish the strange mental picture as her
friend began talking again.
"Anyway, what else has been going on around here? You've already
heard was I've been up to."
"There's not much else to tell," Patricia said earnestly. "I've
been tied up with the dock work, and this place isn't a hive of
newsworthy activity. The Labs' petitions for more funding have gone
through, we now have a second recreations block on the top level with
a good pool, and if you want the gruesome details there was a
stabbing in the market a fortnight ago. The guy died, as did the
perpetrators when they decided to resist arrest and got on the wrong
side of an automated gun."
"This place never fails to impress me," Samus said, the sarcasm
laden on her tongue. "What about now, what's the gizmo?" she asked,
pointing to the device on Patricia's desk.
"Oh, that's a quick job for the arcade hall. A new anti-hacking
board. I thought the practice on software instead of hardware would
do me good. It's done now, I just need to fit the main connectors."
Samus grew a small grin and her eye let out a twinkle. "How about
a game when you're done?"
Patricia had to laugh at the thought. "Me in a VArcade game
against Samus Aran? You're kidding!"
Samus had known Patricia wouldn't have taken the offer seriously,
and was rather glad of it. She had enough of that type of action, and
in far greater quantities, in her work. She much preferred just being
in company that allowed her to completely relax without worrying
about her appearance or reputation.
***
3:16
***
Samus ignored the stares her right arm got her as she headed back
to her quarters that evening. The metal protrusions were better than
the scars the heavy connections her suit had left as a legacy of its
infection with the X. At least the ones between her shoulder blades
and at the base of her spine could be hidden beneath her clothing.
The child following her paused as she gave the man looking at her
a hard stare before carrying on. He didn't care what his mother said,
he knew Samus Aran was the coolest person in the Galaxy. She was
brave, strong, really pretty and just... cool! Not many people knew
her outside her armour, but his Dad worked at the labs on her suit!
His Dad told him what she looked like, and he'd seen her going home!
His Dad had also said Samus didn't want people bugging her, so he
couldn't go up and meet her or everyone would know. That left him
trailing behind as she made her way back to her quarters, or at last
he assumed that's where she was going. It was all living quarters
that way.
After a few minutes she finally stopped at one of the doors and
put in her key card. The child looked around quickly to make sure
there wasn't anyone else there before running out. "Wait, please."
Samus turned to see the ten year old running over to her and
blinked. She wasn't accosted by children very often. "Huh?"
The boy had to catch his breath as he reached her, but he was
beaming with accomplishment as he looked up. "You're... you're
Samus... aren't you? You're really cool!"
She didn't really know how to respond to that. She'd been called
many things, but this was a first. "I am? Trust me kid, I'm not a
great role model."
"But you're strong and brave and fight metroids and pirates!" He
faltered a little. Now he was actually face to face with her, he
didn't really know what to say. Finally he blurted out, "Can I have
your autograph?" but was a little disappointed when she frowned.
"I don't do that kind of thing kid." The fallen look on his face
as she said it softened her though. "But hey, I'm glad you think I do
okay. Here." She held out her hand, which the boy eagerly shook.
"Thanks Miss Samus," he said, beaming, before she sent him back
home.
"Weird," she said to herself before stepping inside. Without the
added energy reserves of her suit to stave off her hunger it was
about time she had something to eat.
***
0:00
With a little bleep the cylindrical walls of the security pod
slid down, viscous blue fluid pouring out onto the floor. Without the
support of the liquid the small, faintly glowing form that had
floated there sat in the pod's base, slowly waking from its forced
slumber.
This was different to the place it remembered, but it was very
hungry. It let out a '*Squeee!*' as it floated up, and set out to
find food, just like everyone else on the station.
***
Samus had only just let the now empty meal tray fall into the
sink when her room buzzer sounded, followed by an urgent banging at
the door. Opening it she was faced with a member of security, looking
pale and worried.
"Wha..?" he started, having expected someone very different to
answer the door. "Excuse me," he said, flustered, "I'm looking for
Samus Aran."
"You've found her," Samus replied simply.
"But..." The man shook his head. "Whatever. There's a metroid
loose on the station! We've lost two men already, and three
civilians. We want your help, or at least your advice!"
Samus couldn't believe her ears. How the hell did a *metroid* get
on the station? "...You're kidding me," she said under her breath as
the thought.
"No Ma'am," the guard said seriously, "I'm not."
In an instant she was all business. "Give me a radio and I'll get
my suit," she said firmly. The guard tuned his radio in and did as he
was told and she took off down the hall towards the labs.
"Okay," she said as she ran, "Where is it?"
"What?" came the reply from the other end. "Who is this?"
Samus gritted her teeth in frustration. "Samus Aran, licensed
bounty hunter. Where is the metroid?"
The voice replied at once. "The Boatman Restaurant by the customs
port. Our weapons don't seem to do anything to it! Ballistic rounds
just slide of or get stopped inside the thing and blaster rounds
don't do a damn thing to it!"
"Wait, you can puncture it?" Samus asked, surprised.
"Yes, for all the good it does."
That came as a big relief. "It must be young then, and pretty
small right?"
"Not quite a foot across I'd guess."
Samus didn't pay any attention to the loud crashing that followed
over the radio. "Okay, tell your people to aim for the nuclei, they
might get lucky and do some damage if they can penetrate far enough,
or go for the mandibles. Break them and it'll be harder for it to
grab anyone. Just stay away from it, I'm on my way."
"Roger."
That was a major point in her favour. As nasty as they could get
they were flighty and naive seeming creature when young, meaning it
wouldn't be too hard for her to deal with it. Simple attack patterns,
easily avoided and countered. She tried to keep her memories pressed
down. Having her mind clouded by the memory of a young metroid had
led her to some unpleasantly close calls before.
***
When she got to the lab however her hopes shattered. "What do you
mean you TOOK IT APART?!" Samus yelled, hefting the scientist up by
his collars.
"We were studying it and you said we had plenty of time. I can
assure you we can re-assemble it perfectly, we only did what we knew
we could undo." The thin tech's words, confident as they were, were
laced with the fear he felt towards being in Samus' power.
None of that mattered to Samus. "I *need* it *NOW*!"
"I know, we've heard. The entire station is locked down, but it
will take at least eleven hours to re-assemble it!"
Samus cursed and roughly let the man go. That was more than
enough time to the creature to kill everyone in that block if it was
given the chance. She turned on her heels and dashed out, re-tuning
the radio to a number she had long since memorised.
"Trish! Trish, turn on the speaker already!"
A moment later Patricia's voice came down the line from her
apartment's phone. "Hello?"
"Trish, it's Samus, my suit's in pieces and I need something I
can fight a metroid with!"
"WHAT! You're not going in to fight it like that are you? You
might as well be naked and hog-tied! Leave it to the security staff,
please Sam!"
Even though she couldn't be seen Samus shook her head. "These
guys are trained for muggers and shoplifters, not metroids Trish.
Just find something and meet me at the Boatman, because I'm doing it
with or without your help."
There was a heavy pause, broken only by Samus' heavy breathing as
she ran.
"Okay, I'll find something and be there, but don't do anything
before I get here Sam."
"Thanks." Samus flicked the radio off and stuck it on her
waistband before careering around another corner, her mind buzzing,
trying to think of a plan of attack that wouldn't leave her dead.
***
The scene was a riot. Outside the restaurant a huge crowd hung in
spite of the danger, seemingly sure that the little green creature
wouldn't break through the glass and come for them. Samus knew the
only reason they were safe was that there must have been someone
alive in there, or else it would have zipped into the crowd in
seconds, assuming it hadn't had its fill and floated off to hide. At
least three people were on stretchers, the medics running a futile
race to try and keep them alive.
Patricia had managed to get there ahead of her, and ran over with
more fear in her face than Samus had ever seen, or ever wanted to
see. The tech knew however there was no convincing her otherwise and
had done as she had been asked. Without a word she thrust the foot
long tool into Samus' hands.
"It's an industrial welding iron. It's the best thing I could
come up with, but on full power it should be enough to get through
the metroid's skin." Holding Samus' hands in her own she activated
the iron and in seconds the tip of the rod-like tool began to glow
red, then white. "The radiation output at the end won't do more than
make it uncomfortable, so you'll have to trap it against a wall or
something, keep it in the same place and burn into it."
She flipped the switch further and the glow spread down one side
of the thin pole. "Or use it this way like a knife or something, but
that way it isn't nearly as hot. Spreading solder fill is easier than
welding steel. It's all hand to hand though, so please be careful."
Samus gave her a brief smile before dashing off and into the
diner, "Thanks Trish, you're a lifesaver."
Patricia just looked after her, her hands clasped at her front
before going to watch the battle through the window. "Don't die on me
Sam."
***
Had the metroids not been such bizarre creatures the scene inside
could easily have been called carnage. The chairs and tables had been
thrown around, constructing crude cover as bodies lay strewn across
the floor, either dead or partially drained as the metroid flew above
them, weaving haphazardly under the gunfire the security team threw
at it, to almost no effect. A bloodless battleground where humans had
the numbers, firepower and intellect, but fell all the same beneath
the jaws of this alien child.
The metroid made another charge and the pair of guards it aimed
for dove away. It was a fraction too late. The vampiric creature
managed to hook onto one man's leg, sending him screaming to the
deck, his life force slowly beginning to flow away as it fed and his
partner making a frantic effort to remove it.
Samus grabbed the man she assumed was in charge. "I'm Aran. Any
luck?"
The older man turned around, concerned for his officer. "What? No
not yet, though we've got a pattern going so it can't stay attached,
but we can't hold out forever. We've broken one of its teeth like you
said, but it just uses the other to hook on mid flight instead of
grab."
Samus nodded as she watched the officer tear the metroid from his
partner's leg, skin coming away in the creature's maw as he finally
managed it. "Okay, I'll go in and try and take it down from close
range. If it backs off or I pull back then open fire, otherwise leave
it to me. If it goes after your people I'll try and put it down there
and then."
The chief nodded and repeated the orders to his men as Samus
leaped over the toppled table, just in time to see the metroid grab
the other officer. She made a sprint for it and lunged out, but the
white hot tip of her weapon skittered across its tough surface,
leaving burned patches on the still maturing skin. It must have been
enough however as the creature let go with a piercing shriek,
floating off and away from the pair.
<It must be real naive if it let go after that,> Samus thought as
she readied herself and the metroid came to a halt. Usually they
wouldn't release their prey for anything short of near lethal damage
or an attack to the mouthparts. Neither was an option now since she
didn't have her beam cannon or morph ball and bombs to rely on. The
chances were it wouldn't fall for it again.
The creature hovered there for a second, as if regarding her even
though it had no eyes. It tilted and swayed letting out a string of
squeaks that to Samus almost sounded confused. It wasn't going for
her? Before the guards could open fire it let out a vicious sounding
screech and lunged for her. Samus only just leapt in time to avoid
the seemingly enraged thing, batting it ineffectually as it went past
her. It came around for another pass, the short hail of bullets
levelled at it only serving to bump it off its course a little before
it flew back at Samus.
This time she was ready for it. If there was one thing about
metroids they were always predictable at first, and it came flying at
her jaws first, ready to latch onto her the second it hit. Instead it
hit the white hot tip of Samus' welding iron which slipped right
between its mangled mandibles and shot through into its viscous
centre. Samus could actually see its gelatinous body bubble inside
its tough skin before the creature shot back off the tool, screaming
in agony as steam escaped from its maw. She had missed the nuclei
though, only causing superficial damage. She just prayed she had
another chance like that. Something in her mind kept trying to bring
up her tactical HUD to see exactly how she had done, but it was just
another ghost of her missing suit.
The metroid however kept screaming as its body burned, the
radiation from the iron hurting its cellular mind as much as the heat
hurt its body. Samus knew it was too small to be really learning from
its mistakes, but the way it was now keeping close to her, out of the
fire from the security staff meant it wasn't completely naive. It
wasn't as large or as tenacious as most she had faced on Tallon Four,
but bigger than her newborn. She wasn't going to say it was smarter
though, her newborn deserved more than that.
The metroid shrieked again, making another charge and Samus hoped
it would fall for the same trick twice. She didn't have such luck
however, as it rolled in mid air just as it reached her, taking a
burn to its top then swinging over to latch its jaws into her
shoulder. <No!> Samus cried in her mind, letting herself fall back
but knowing she couldn't miss the teeth. She then thanked whatever
stars there might have been looking over her just then, because it
was the shattered mandible that hit, scraping over her skin but not
letting it latch on. Euphoria at her luck washed over Samus and she
made another swipe as caught herself on her knees, scoring another
scorching strike to the metroid's top.
Despite her elation at surviving the creature's now apparent
cunning she knew she couldn't keep this up forever. She needed a good
damaging attack. This time the metroid wasn't going to play her game
though, and it kept close, ready and waiting, but not actually going
for her, leaving her to thrust at it as it bobbed and weaved in front
of her, none of her few hits doing anything to slow it down despite
her early success.
She managed to get another good hit between the jaws on its next
run, feinting back as it came at her to meet its underside and scorch
the edge of one of its nuclei, but as they fought on she began to
realise that she would lose simply through exhaustion. She didn't
have her suit's help to keep going under the stress and encroaching
fatigue. Her eyes glanced across the window, seeing everyone out
there cheering for her or hiding their eyes behind their hands. She
even caught a glimpse of Patricia's anxious face before she brought
her attention back to her opponent.
It had been a distraction she couldn't afford. The young metroid
was already in mid charge and she made a desperate swing to bat it
away, but it only wobbled with the blow and changed its target from
her head to her chest. She force of the impact knocked her right off
her feet as the creature buried its good tooth into her right breast,
smaller teeth punching through her leather vest and into her skin as
it began to suck her life away. In that instant she had the most
disturbing image, her heart on one side of her chest, the metroid on
the other, each as integral to her life as the other. Looking down in
fear induced shock it almost looked like it was nursing. Almost.
<It must be such a let down for that kid,> she thought in that
strange split second of her life. <I hope Trish doesn't take it too
hard either.>
Then it struck her, this was her chance. Grasping the metroid to
her in one hand she brought the iron down on it. The alien animal
screeched as it clung on, determined to kill its prey in spite of the
pain, and Samus grinned through her exhaustion as she felt the thick
membrane finally give way. The creature screamed for all it was
worth, now struggling to get free, but it was too late. Samus managed
to look down at herself from where she lay, saw the nuclei, and
stabbed down on one with her iron. The metroid screamed louder than
she had ever heard, twitching violently in her grasp, but that didn't
matter now. It had left her with enough energy to kill it. She
activated the side of the iron then pulled across, slowly, very
slowly, carving the creature open. This was the same feeling she'd
had when she'd finally found a way to take down the prime metroid.
Power!
She threw the mangled creature off her and staggered to her
knees. It took every bit of energy she had, to raise the iron in her
hands over the dying animal, but it would be worth it for the kill.
Then the creature mewled at her. It was such a soft, pitiful sound.
Somehow, she knew it was afraid. She didn't even know if metroids
were capable of emotion, but it was afraid of her. With its one good
mandible it made a last effort to crawl away, but its split and burnt
body was too far gone to let it move.
"*Squeee*."
She couldn't take her eyes away as her arms fell to her sides. It
looked so helpless now. A wounded animal that had been punished for
doing what was natural.
"*Squee*."
It really did remind her of the hatchling that had followed her
so playfully for so long. What did it matter that it looked so
strange to everyone's eyes? It wasn't the horror that everyone made
it out to be. It shouldn't have been put in this position in the
first place. Why was it even here?
"*squee*."
Samus felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Patricia's
tear stained face. She looked like she had been through hell and
back. Samus looked back down to the metroid and brought the iron
slowly over its other nucleus, trying not to hear its whimpers. <I'm
sorry.>
She thrust the iron forwards and the metroid gave one final high
pitched cry before it fell silent. Then the exhaustion and drain on
her energy finally asserted itself, and Samus blacked out.
***
"... and they said as soon as I get back into my suit the
lethargy will pass. The bio-chemical symbiotic balancing will help
apparently."
Patricia nodded as she sat at her friend's hospital bedside. "I'm
just glad you're going to be okay. I thought you were... gone, for a
second there. I've never been so scared as when I was watching you
there, or when you collapsed."
Samus nodded, and looked over to the doorway to make sure the
doctor wasn't listing in. "To be honest, I thought that might have
been it. I was lucky it wasn't a fast feeder."
"How can you joke about this?" Patricia asked quietly. "I thought
you were dead. Is it always like that?"
"No," Samus replied seriously. "A lot of the time I don't have
much trouble with jobs. Sometimes it gets tricky, but usually not
that bad. I have the suit to rely on as well, so while it's always
worse than that I'm much better equipped to deal with it. One like
that I could have killed without much trouble at all."
Patricia hesitated for a moment. "...Why didn't you finish it
straight away?"
Samus took another glance at the door before answering. "I felt
sorry for it. It was just an animal."
"But it was a *metroid*!"
"That doesn't make any difference," Samus replied. "Sure, I had
to, but it was just doing what it was born... hatched to do. Survive
as best it can. You know, sometimes I feel guilty about exterminating
them. Sure, it was a job, but that's practically genocide. It would
be if they didn't keep appearing. Seeing it like that on the floor,
it just reminded me that it was fighting for its life the same as I
was, only it did it to feed too."
She looked up into Patricia's confused eyes. "Did you see when I
first hit it? It didn't come right at me. And when it did it was mad,
if they can get mad. I've been thinking, maybe it didn't feel angry,
but betrayed. It didn't know what to make of me except that I
attacked it."
"Samus," Patricia said kindly, trying not to sound condescending,
"Metroids don't have emotions. They aren't built like that."
Samus shook her head. "We don't know how their intellect works
either. Maybe they can feel things. I found a baby one once, it
hatched right in front of me, and I couldn't get the little thing to
leave me alone. I could tell that it felt differently depending on
what was happening, and that one wasn't even the size of my hand."
She opened her palm in reference. "I got kind of attached to it after
a while. Until it died. In my next mission."
"I believe you," said Patricia, and meant it. The scientists
could study and say all they liked, but Samus was probably the best
first hand knowledge there was. The sad, conflicted look in her
friend's eyes only helped the concept sink in harder. "So what was it
doing here?"
Samus frowned. "That's what I want to know. Why would anyone let
a metroid loose on a space station intentionally, and who would be
stupid enough to let one escape by accident."
Patricia couldn't even begin to guess. Galactic politics and
power struggles weren't her strong point. "I haven't a clue."
"Me either. The only one I've come up with, egotistical as it is,
is that someone's trying to ruin my reputation. Turn me from the
hunter who fights metroids into a metroid magnet who puts everyone at
risk." She didn't believe that for a moment though. "But private
corporations wouldn't have any reason to, and I doubt the pirates
have the resources yet after everything I've done to them. The
Federation... I'm too valuable for them to do that, even if we aren't
on good terms right now."
The pair sat in silence for a while, each lost in their own
thoughts. This was a real mess.
"So what now?" Patricia finally asked.
Samus knew that at least. "I can't stay here; it's too volatile
for now. I'm going to do some investigation through my own channels
before I take another job."
Patricia had feared that. "Looking for people who might deal with
metroids, right? Find out why this happened?"
Samus nodded.
"Can't you just... leave them now? These things are going to end
up ruling your life."
Samus looked at her seriously. "They already do. I'm famous for
hunting them. I've captured them. I've lived with them in my dreams
for years. I have them *inside* me, metroid DNA amongst my own. The X
would have killed me without that, so I even owe my life to them.
Maybe that's why it seemed betrayed, because it knew there's some of
it in me. There's no escape, so I'm going to go along. If I run
they'll only chase me, and this way maybe I can leave them behind one
day."
Patricia nodded. There was no way she could change Samus' mind,
and she wouldn't have wanted to anyway. This was what made Samus who
she was. "Okay." She got up and headed for the door. "When you're
ready, leave right away. People are already talking, and I don't
think you'll want the media here."
Samus smiled and shook her head. "Yeah, I don't want to be a
celebrity. It'll die down soon enough."
"And I'll make the gun."
Samus blinked, unsure of what she had heard. "What?"
"The phazon cannon," Patricia said gravely, "I'll make it. But I
won't make it a permanent upgrade; you'll need to attach the mod when
you want to use it. I won't risk using dual power feeds. It probably
won't be quite as powerful as the one you discovered before either."
"Why?" Samus asked, "Why do it after-"
Patricia didn't let her finish. "Because I believe you, and it
will help, even if there aren't any more enemies like the prime you
faced. After what I saw yesterday..." She paused not willing to
finish that sentence. She had been terrified of what she had seen,
and if that was only a fragment of what Samus had faced, then she
would do anything she could to help in her fight. She couldn't not
act now.
She lowered her eyes as she stood in the doorway. "Just...
please, make it back here to collect it."
Samus' reply of, "Don't worry, I will," came as Patricia turned
and left, leaving the bounty hunter to herself and her thoughts.
Patricia was wasted on the station, she thought, and on her.
This had to stop. The black and white of her life and her ideals
had slowly been blurred, mission by mission, and right now she was
convinced there was so little of either left amidst the sea of grey
that it was beyond her to find a way to finish it properly. But she
was going to be damned before she stopped trying. Maybe one day that
kid's faith in her might be justified, and maybe she would be able to
repay a little of the care, concern and compassion that Trish had
given so freely to someone like her.
***
Patricia stared out of the window as she sat on her bed, her arms
wrapped around her knees. She knew the chances of glimpsing Sam's
ship as it left were tiny, but she looked all the same. It wasn't
fair. She was losing her again, and again she worried that she might
never see her again, especially after the last few days. With Samus
it was all the worse not least because of the dangers she faced when
she wasn't on the station, where Patricia knew she was safe. At
least, safe most of the time.
The last few days had shaken her greatly. She had really been
adamant about not building that weapon, but that had changed as she
saw her best friend with a metroid clamped to her chest. Every now
and then something happens that makes you change your perspective on
the universe, and this had been one of those times. In some ways it
both strengthened and undermined her resolve.
She played her fingers across the small box in her hand, once
again out of the security locker. She'd had it for a long time now,
and now more than ever she wanted to use it, but it was also now more
than ever that she couldn't. It was too complicated.
She flipped the purple felt covered lid open, allowing her
fingertips to slide over the metal.
One day she might be able to bring herself to deal with it. She
hoped that was the case, but she didn't want to lose the friendship
that meant so much to her now, and the more she put it off the harder
it seemed to become. Even when it was staring her in the face, like
it had been this time. They hadn't had an argument like that before
either. That had been new and not very pleasant, but it had ended up
alright in the end, and Samus had gotten her way after all anyway.
Even so, Patricia couldn't begrudge her that. She doubted she could
begrudge her anything anymore.
Out in space she caught a glimmer of light as another ship left,
its course taking it past her window. Was that Sam? She doubted it,
but she allowed herself to believe anyway. She let her eyes fall from
the starry void and they came to rest on the open box as she held it
out in front of her, a simple gold ring nestled amongst the soft
purple cloth.
"I suppose you're right..." She could feel her eyes moisten even
as she tried to smile. "But I'm a coward."
***
The End
***
Please take the time to give me some feedback and let me know what
you thought. Thanks.
Credit goes to Richard King for his proof reading assistance.
(c) 2004 Nutzoide
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