Restricted Laboratory ~ Metroid Fusion

The scientists on the B.S.L. research station must have had huge fucking thighs having to jump up on platforms to get anywhere

A Theory About Fusion Samus, The Baby, and SA-X.

After Metroid 2, Samus collects a baby Metroid who believes Samus to be her mother. During Super Metroid, this Baby is found on planet Zebes, having been collected by the pirates, and experimented on.

This Baby absorbs all of Samus' power and Returns it to her when she needed it the most against Mother Brain; and the subsequently destroyed by Mother Brain.

Or was she?

In Metroid Fusion; the Titular Samus (After having rescued Animals from Zebes infected with the Parasite X) Absorbs the X *AND* A Metroid Core herself. Becoming both Human, Metroid, *and* Parasite X incarnate.

Or; Was *this* Samus really: [The Baby]?

Super Samus is faced with a choice at the end of Super Metroid; Investigate and save some animals trapped in a vault while escaping Zebes, OR ignore those animals because all their friends and family are dead either way.

What if; Super Samus didn't hear the animal's cry at all? What-if; [The Baby] had escaped after absorbing her "Mother's" DNA during the energy absorption... What if; She had them gone to where she knew she could find Parasite-X: in order to recover. She is after-all a "Super Metroid" and not your regular Metroid. Perhaps she hadn't died at the end of the game.

After absorbing information from Mother Brain, memories and DNA from Samus, and feasting on Parasite-X (who we know can take the form of other Animals already) Morphed Super Metroid into a sort of *Fusion Metroid*.

What if the reason the science team needed to "surgically" remove Samus' s armor was *because* it was an actual part of Her? A type of Bio-suit *also* made from X.

And The Body inside wasn't Samus at all; But her Daughter.... [The Baby].

Think about it; Vulnerable to Ice, so much so that her copied Suit wasn't able to protect against it at all; Capable of absorbing X, not because of a vaccine, but because she was *already* a Metroid. And the Metroid vaccine itself; only working *because* she *was* a Metroid.

Unless the Vaccine was made of Parasite-X; which actually does have the ability to morph your DNA; it doesn't make sense why Samus' DNA would rapidly change into a Metroid.

It makes more sense that the Baby Metroid would turn into *her* because of the Chozo's experiments on Samus' DNA in order to make her invulnerable to the Metroid to begin with.

[Link to Metroid.Fandom]

Here's where it gets Ominous; What if the linear gameplay of Metroid Fusion, Adam, and all of the story that we as the player are told about Fusion Suit Samus is a Lie?

What if; Samus had ejected the life forms from her own cargo hold, only knowing they were a threat to her? That pod could conceivably been picked up by The B.S.L.

And Adam, and everything that Fusion Samus knows (And that the Fandom actively hates about the series) were memories implanted into Fusion Samus as they tried to manipulate the Clone into doing their bidding?

Kinda Like Bioshock 1. "Would You Kindly; Not use your weaponry Samus?"

Why does this matter? Well the whole reason Samus in both Fusion and "Other: M" don't use their weapons are because she was asked to. The reasoning is; that the weaponry *could* destroy sections of the space station. It's later (in both games) that we find that ; the station was much stronger than they gave it credit for.

And in both cases; Samus has to decide not to follow a "direct order" just to use her own equipment; that they asked her to bring with. Why even bother bringing the equipment if it's "so strong it'll destroy everything"

So I ask again;

What if Fusion Samus *is* "The Baby"?

And; what happens if Super Samus catches wind that the Space Federation was actively experimenting on, and manipulating a clone of her?

Rail Baltica: Construction Begins on Latvia’s Longest Railway Overpass

Rail Baltica: Construction Begins on Latvia’s Longest Railway Overpass

Construction has begun on Latvia’s longest railway overpass, with the completion of the structure’s first piles. This is being undertaken by B.S.L. Infra consortium and follows the announcement last month that construction had also begun on what will be the Baltic States’ longest railway bridge. The overpass is part of Rail Baltica’s Riga airport railway station project, which consists of…

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“After regaining consciousness, I learned that an unexplained explosion rocked the station.  For some reason, this awoke a nameless fear in my heart, and now I am being sent there to investigate.  My mission on the B.S.L station will be overseen by my new ship’s computer.”

Begin Encrypted Log

CHOZO ENCRYPTION KEY: ⋞⋗⋄⦡∇ BIOMETRIC SCAN IN PROGRESS:......IDENTITY CONFIRMED: SAMUS ARAN.DNA STATUS: STABLE.

Day 47 since the destruction of ZDR.

I've been combing every last bit of rock from the planet. It's been over a month, and there are still no traces of any X parasites. The working hypothesis is that the gelatinous form can't survive the vacuum of space, and gets ripped apart into dust. It's unlikely that any of these motes of dust can survive atmospheric reentry to be found.

Today brings me to a total of two whole data drives, though. I've got ADAM working constantly to decrypt them, which is a little unfair. Asking a Federation AI, even one based on a human mind, to crack a Chozo cipher is like asking a brick wall to speak to an ant. Still, by routing the protocol through my suit, he is making progress.

We can't stay out here too much longer though. The spread of debris is growing too large to be manageable, even with my ship. At least 7% of the planet has already been pulled into the local star, and it won't be more than a few days before that number rockets up to 23%.

Beyond that, even the strict rationing of fuel gel has its limits. Reactor core stability isn't an issue, but even with my newly mastered Metroid ability to consume energy directly from the ship, the rest of my body is very unhappy with nothing but synthetic meals. Additionally, I need a drink. I need to stop and actually process this. The number of confirmed living Chozo jumped to two, then to one, then back to zero, by my hand. I've destroyed another planet, another home of the Chozo. My suit still hasn't fully regrown from the BSL incident. With no further strenuous use, it might be fully regrown and replated in about another month.

And finally... I have to finalize what I submit in my report. The Federation CAN NOT know about the Metroid abilities I have. I'm still not sure about the splinter cell trying to collect bioweapons, and the last thing I need is a whole organization of Raven Beaks. Guess I don't need to worry about the X in that regard, but until everyone involved with the B.S.L. station is found and rooted out, I need to be on guard.

LADY, THE FINAL SCAN OF THE LOCAL DEBRIS IS COMPLETED. ONE FINAL OBJECT OF INTEREST HAS BEEN LOCATED.

ADAM, we've discussed you accessing my logs while I'm writing them. What have you found?

A HERMETICALLY SEALED CONTAINER BEARING ICONOGRAPHY OF THE THOHA TRIBE. COORDINATES UPLOADED TO NAVIGATION SYSTEM. LOCAL MAP UPLOADED TO YOUR SUIT. GRAVITY AND GRAPPLE SYSTEMS ACTIVATED, INTEGRITY AT 96%. AWAITING MANUAL LAUNCH SEQUENCE.

Well... One more run then. But stay out of my logs, ADAM.

I CAN NOT ENSURE COMPLIANCE. YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO, SAMUS. GOOD LUCK.

Alright then... I guess I'm done here. Find the box, hope for the best, and leave this area.

END LOG.

I started playing Metroid Fusion.

(Just to be clear, I’m actually having a lot of fun with the game. I just wanted to make this joke.)

collection of thoughts about metroid dread, be ready for spoilers, obviously :

nintendo almost never truly considers or incorporates the true nature of bounty hunting as a profession so it is really refreshing for the game to open with her ship’s AI complaining about assumed risk vs. stated pay vis-à-vis the mission they are undertaking, going in solo after a deployment of seven highly advanced federation robots cut contact, presumably overwhelmed by whatever threat lays on ZDR .  the digitised adam has a tendency to reflect samus’ thoughts back at her & the real adam was one of the few people who learned to read her despite her dire communication skills, so i like to think he is echoing one of her guarded sentiments, it’s not worth it .  she’s loathe to be under galactic federation oversight once more, many of whom still do not trust her because of the destruction of the B.S.L. research station & SR388, going against direct orders & subverting a conspiracy against her so that the federation may capture the SA-X .  they’ve docked her pay & keep her on a short leash, but any surviving X must be eradicated either way & she doesn’t trust them to lead the effort, it’s a marriage of convenience .

fusion ends on the note that at least one of the higher-ups at the federation will understand the necessity of samus’ actions, that the universe would’ve been consumed by the X otherwise & samus stands alone as their sole surviving predator, & i think that’s about the only explanation where gonna get for why they’re employing samus once more .  though the nature of the E.M.M.I. as both highly formidable combatants that are resistant to samus’ base weaponry & their ability to extract specific genetic material from living specimens tells me they were sent to ZDR to bring bang samples of the X parasites should they encounter hosts, the federation never expected them to fail or be reprogrammed & when they ceased sending back data, well, who else in the galaxy could handle the X but samus aran ?

on the topic of adam it’s kind of tragic watching him be turned into the usual annoying nintendo tutorial character for basically all of metroid dread, he was a glorified objective marker provider for the majority of fusion until nearing the end when he gained story relevance & the twist of his nature as a digitised mind of one of samus’ former commanding officers is revealed, but here all he does is restate game mechanics & story beats to you after they’ve already been better explain in less words (& in some cases through gameplay/level design rather than a tutorial prompt), it sucks, i listened to all his dialog on the first go around because of course i was gonna but now i’m probably gonna skip it, & they still lock you in a room with him, they haven’t learned !  it’s also kind of strange to have him as a companion while you’re deep below ZDR’s crust, the tense atmosphere & biting survival against a harsh environment would work far better with samus being truly alone, confused after her encounter with the chozo & with no one to guide her but her own instincts .  i know there’s story relevance later, don’t worry .

adam does say ‘ treat our assets with care, lady. ‘ so he’s definitely the main negotiator that allowed samus not to face any charges after fusion (what better companion for a selectively mute, reclusive bounty hunter than a computer that talks too much).  plus, what could the federation to do samus, really, come on .  forget about the E.M.M.I. .

kraid is a very early boss & i love seeing my boy back, it’s really been too long & i’m glad he is this game’s sole returning boss, the little mother brain wannabes don’t count .  was worried we were gonna see ridley but thankfully he is 100% dead .  there isn’t a concrete explanation for his return, the two theories persist between cloning & capture, though the former explains his presence adequately given he went the way of ridley on zebes, his remains vaporised in the planet’s explosion, it’s also the explanation for ridley’s survival in other m so i’m going with his damaged carcass being hauled back to a space pirate homeworld in some form of fashion, given he is an early encounter in super metroid unless you’re speedrunning, there was plenty of time for him to lick his wounds & later be captured for interrogation by the chozo on ZDR .  he would be a valuable asset as a space pirate captain & have knowledge worth torturing for on one of the chozo’s most prominent enemies .  his struggle against his restraints & his clear hatred of samus is so nicely communicated i love all the cutscenes that feature a boss, from the counter to their deaths, it’s a visual feast .  insanely agile, nimble power suited samus isn’t really my cup of tea, especially her hanging a charged power beam at her side, but i’ve already posted about it .

it does sort of feel that with this new presentation of samus in action we’re somewhat overcompensating for her weak & subservient portrayal is some cutscenes in other m, what better opposite than have samus be unfazed by the threats she faces, circling them slowly with her arms at her side waiting for them to strike at her ?  the issue i think is that this creates a clear disconnect between cutscene samus & player samus, she performs feats that you are completely unable to do on your own/the game restricts you from doing so, she mounts each boss & presses her arm cannon against their head, unloading her arsenal into their skull, but when you play, touching these same enemies damages you .  no better example then when samus dashes up kraid’s belly to escape without being hurt, ducking to the side to avoid his belly button projectile when all you can do is jump over it or slide/morph ball under it .  i don’t know, i feel like there was good balance in prime (sorry the fucking metroid prime praise isn’t stopping any time soon), samus displayed a courteous professionalism in her encounters, not reckless self-confidence, she stood her ground, she was always alert, her weapon was trained on her enemies & she made use of her abilities much like the player would, she wasn’t flipping & zip-zooming all over the shop .  dread’s control scheme tries for a more agile character, the counter doubles as a melee attack that pushes samus forward, but it’s still metroid at it’s core .

okay no more complaining time for gushing,

the inherit sexiness of samus sole spoken line of dialog throughout the whole game being in her native chozodian is unparalleled, ascendant, truly a decision made squarely to please me directly & it worked, i’m eating this up, this is EXACTLY how you make samus into a voiced protagonist .  i’m so fucking happy they didn’t pussy out of giving her dialog after other m’s negative reception but the execution is in such a way that it creates a truly memorable, iconic moment that makes so much sense for the character of samus aran .  two sentences, nothing more, nothing less, her declaring her intent to end raven beak’s plans & spoken to the only character in dread who deserves to hear her voice, a fellow chozo of the thoha tribe, someone clearly meant to parallel old bird (like raven beak is meant to parallel grey voice, i’ll get into this later) .  it also falls very well in line with the view of samus as selectively mute, she would feel more comfortable expressing herself in her native tongue to a chozo than she would in english/galactic standard after having spent her childhood on zebes, her formative years among her adoptive species .  she struggled to transition over to humanity once she set off to train in the galactic federation, she could pick up their language with ease not only because the chozo were mutli-lingual (they had to be, having made contact with fellow space fairing races throughout their long history), but because she had started learning galactic standard as a young child on K2-L .  she was three years young upon her rescue, so at the very least, a base was formed that allowed her to push past her discomfort among fellow humans and learn to speak & live among them, even if she will always view the chozo as her ancestors, her mentors & her family .

a few plot elements don’t necessarily make sense, especially if you factor in how the original metroid 2 & super metroid presented SR388 & zebes respectively, but we are going off samus returns here & i think we will see a super metroid remake eventually, not sure how they could improve upon perfection, but it’s inevitable .

the ruins of SR388 are decrepit, ancient beyond reason, everything overgrown & fallen into such deep disrepair from centuries of the absence of sentient life that the metroids have overrun the cavern system entirely, with only a few species of native fauna surviving the onslaught .  the chozo lab rests at the heart of the planet while temples dedicated to their worship dot the caverns on the way to the surface .  whatever transpired on the planet, the creation of the metroids, it was so long ago they it had vanished from collective memory .  even zebes, once the pride of the chozo empire, had succumbed to age between samus’ first mission & her return in super, the space pirate flagship she had escaped from too eroded & decaying from decades of time past between games (i know sakomoto deconfirmed the wrecked ship being the same as the vessel we explore at the end of zero mission but c’mon now, they’re too close for it to be a coincidence) but dread makes it seem like raven beak’s slaughter of his fellow chozo was relatively recent (by metroid standards), he needed to deal with the X which had stowed away on his ship in the guise of a chozo soldier, which apparently took enough time for the events of samus returns, super, other m & fusion to happen, but the state we find ZDR in is otherwise pristine, especially the areas inhabited by chozo, i can’t really buy it .  it’s an issue i have with both samus returns & dread, i think, i don’t mind the setting of metroid being shifted from ancient worlds abandoned even by time itself to modern, futuristic & functional locales (fusion has an excellent atmosphere & it’s set on a fully operation research vessel which we see destroyed in real time), but the justification here is poor .  the chozo have been absent from the galaxy for centuries, the settlements they built on zebes, SR388, talon iv & elysia were erected millennia ago (skytown was founded 1,500 years before prime 3 took place), i wish their return to the universe carried some more fanfare & acknowledgement of their absence .  the dread reports speak of the chozo as being a rare sight & in the super metroid comics there is one suriving chozo that helps samus on her journey, but the intention originally was to have them extinct, either by their own hand or simply the inevitable passage of time .

i kind of feel like a prick now but listen the game is good i promise, but i wouldn’t be a life-long metroid fan if it wasn’t a nitpicking piece of shit loser .

the reintroduction of the X was something everyone saw coming a mile away but i really like the horror of what they’ve done to the surviving chozo soldiers, just the sight of these once great warriors giving into monstrous rage & turning into goop creatures .  originally i imagined the X being raven beak’s reasoning for eliminating the scientists on SR388, choosing to enhance his army with X & clone an infinite amount of soldiers for his conquest, & while he does display some control over the X, it is only those that have infected chozo whose memories are of his subservience to him .  kind of sad his plan is the formulaic usage of metroids for power, we’ve seen it done before far too many times, but now that samus is the sole surviving metroid, it adds a bit of flavour .

not sure how to feel about the intertribal conflict at the centre of metroid dread, the chozo where never a homogeneous whole & i’m glad the games are directly acknowledging this though .  the chozo of talon iv lived in peace with nature, limiting their use of technology as they took to worship & eventually transcended into the great beyond, those that settled on elysia had unique architecture & naming conventions, they brought sentience to machines & left them to rule themselves, though they kept a relationship with the collective chozo as a member of their tribe was a key part of the development of the power suit .  now different tribes of chozo have names, but the dichotomy between the thoha & the mawkin is deeply simplistic, one being scholarly & kind while the other is warrior-like & violent, i wishing for more nuance in their dynamic, honestly .  it echoes back between the conflict of samus’ upbringing, the paths she could’ve chosen between old bird & grey voice’s mentorship, whom were scholars & warriors in their prime .  ares brought this up in conversation but the chozo temple in phendrana drifts has statues that represent the different lifepaths a chozo could take, between shaman, philosopher, warrior & architect .  part of me wishes this was the nature of the conflict at play, instead of being parallels to her mentors, quiet robe & raven beak could’ve the chozo who raised her & now their conflict threatens the galaxy as the warriors overpower the scholars .

tying their genetics as an important part of the story is questionable too & partially nonsensical, as the thoha’s ability to control metroids isn’t or shouldn’t be imbued in their genes, they are the scientists that first bred metroids & even they couldn’t stop them from getting out of control & overtaking SR388 .  as well, the mawkin were the warriors brought to protect the thoha as they explored the planet, why are the metroids naturally hostile to them ?  why did meeting raven beak trigger samus’ latent metroid DNA because of their designed hostility to his tribe, but seeing the x, the creatures the metroids where engineered to eradicate, do no such thing ?  i honestly don’t know, this is an aspect of the story that feels rushed & it really needn’t be .

alright well, listen, i’ve been down on the story more or less up until now but samus definitely two insanely great moments of characterisation that are franchise defining, her line of dialog & her unleashing her full metroid powers on raven beak .  she displays anger visibly in her scowl throughout dread but never has samus been allowed to simply succumb to her repressed rage like this before & i adore it, of all the moments in the game this is the one i’ve rewatched the most & god, i can’t put it into words .  she hasn’t hated anything in this universe as much as she hated raven beak in that moment, calling her his daughter even though he could scarcely compare to her mentors on zebes, who taught her the value of peace above all else .  he might parallel her warrior nature, be her equal in combat, but he is another in a line of her dark reflections .  the slaughter of their fellow chozo, everything their civilisation had stood for for millennia crushed in his ruthless pursuit of power & galactic conquest .  he was a fool to make an adversary of samus & in the brief seconds of unconsciousness the decades of anger she rarely taps into bubble at the surface &, because of her metroid genetics, hunger .  just an endless hunger that sees her drain raven beak & his flying fortress of all energy there is, leaving just one drop so that she may look him in the eye one final time, make him know he failed before ending him .  it’s a great moment, i’m so happy for samus .

the metroid suit looks really cool but also kind of like cabbage, but i’m glad to see once more that the power suit is what shoulders the brunt of the physical trauma samus endures for any reason, including the altering of her genetics with foreign DNA .  they are one & the same, & the suit protects her from much, including any great deal of physical change upon the injection of the vaccine in fusion .  she retains her hominid appearance beneath while the suit shifts according to instructions written on her DNA, it’s just cool .

okay i’m done for now sorry i’ll make more posts eventually but please play metroid dread it’s everything i could’ve ever wanted even if i have a few issues with the end product, we’re in the golden age of metroid, samus is fucking back, where is prime 4

as for my blog’s canon, i’m probably still sticking to her being around after super metroid or during the prime trilogy, it’s not like there’s any other metroid writers around & that spot in her timeline is the most open dhskajdhkasjdhsjk

Metroid Dread

So I’ve been watching some of the announcement gameplay videos and trailers to the upcoming new 2.5D Metroid game, Metroid Dread.

The game doesn’t look half as awkward as Samus Returns, but man... Nothing about this is very frightening. I mean, remember the SA-X? Now that was terrifying, that was making the sweat prickle at the back of your neck.

The E.M.M.I. isn’t any of these things. It’s quite quick and its erratic movements can be hard to predict, which should create a sense of urgency when you’re in one of its sections, but that’s currently all it does. The music consists of robotic beeps and tries to suggest the E.M.M.I.’s  cold and uncaring characteristics (if it can be called that), but to me it only sounds like funky space music.

Back in Fusion, there were a few sections of the game where the only thing you heard were the background noises of the B.S.L. station itself  — no music whatsoever. And I really loved that! They were some of my favourite things about Fusion. They reminded me so much of the Alien franchise; particularly the first movie, where sound without any actual music was creating a tense and suspenseful atmosphere.

The thick fog crawling over the surfaces in the E.M.M.I.’s patrol sectors are a nice touch, but I’ve a suspicion they’re more to make use of the console’s processing power than add anything useful for the game...

Nothing about this creates dread.

Something I also noticed is the cartoonish lighting, which I despised in Samus Returns as well. It’s great they brought back the ability to vertically and horizontically climb, but the bright blue colour of the climable wall sections is just irksome.

Like, we — the players — are not dumb. We are aware of how to use wall bars. We’re smart! No need to try to make absolutely sure we won’t miss it.

The game looks enticing, I’m not gonna lie. I like the way Samus is presented a lot; she’s back to being her usual, badass self and she’s looking good! I’m interested in hearing more about how she obtained this version of her Power Suit (the helmet in particular looks straight from Fusion and there are a few organic components along her shoulders, arms and torso), but the white colour is certainly something new!

I also really enjoy the dash melee counter, which seems like a huge improvement to the static melee counter feature from Samus Returns. I haven’t noticed any melee counters during a jumping animation, but it might have just slipped by me.

I’ll be keeping an eye on this one, that’s for sure.

Samus & the Galactic Federation

Samus' insubordination on the B.S.L. made her both a role model, and a example of what NOT to do, for the Federation Troops.

Never go against protocol. Never do what Samus did, and crash a perfectly good space station into a planet, blowing it to pieces. That’s what the Galactic Federation says. But the soldiers looked up to her, not only for her nigh perfect mission record, but her bravery to butt heads with the Federation for the greater good. They tried to say she did it in sabotage, but everyone knew the truth. Samus was a hero.

However, that also meant that for bigger jobs, ones that would take a Bounty Hunter of Samus' skill level, Samus would no longer be their first choice. Smaller jobs, such as apprehending criminals, killing alien monstrosities, etc. are still something she's involved in. Rundas may join her for these things, depending on whether the Galactic Federation says she has to, but otherwise she goes it alone.

Armor

The Chozo tech in Samus’s armour- which integrates her body with the suit on a biological level- is based on the same technology used in Chozo Statues and Torizo, integrating biological matter with a non-biological shell. The Federation have been trying and failing to replicate this technology for years, being somewhat successful when they created the Fusion Suit. During their visits to Zebes and SR388, they took Chozo Statues and Torizo for further study- those were taken to the B.S.L. station, where they later became infected by the X, creating the Chozo Statue X boss and Nettori.

(I'm just gonna feed your creativity for a while) Serris

Serris was such a rare and valuable specimen because the X destroyed so many of them on their homeworld of SR388. X parasites used the bodies of these high-speed creatures to travel quickly between different areas of the planet. The X spread through water first, infecting the Serris population then using them to get around, but since it was energetically costly to stay in such a large body for so long, the X later took on smaller forms to spread across the land and air.

B.S.L. scientists could not figure out why Serris were so rare, nor what had caused them to all just vanish since the first survey of SR388 in 20X5. Worried that the species might die out, they took one surviving specimen to the research station and hoped to eventually find it a breeding partner.