Log 09.992.4

Zebes has been taken. Most Chozo ground personnel have been neutralised. Those remaining have fled the planet to star systems unknown and are no longer a priority. Ground Forces have located Mother Brain, the Chozo-fabricated synthetic organism without whom our conquest of Zebes would have been impossible, deep in the caverns of the planet, in a mostly metal alloy constructed zone know to the Chozo as Tourian.

It seemed that until the last moment the Chozo were convinced that their Mother Brain was formulating defensive and battle strategies for them, when in fact the opposite was true. The synthetic organism disclosed to our ground forces any and all weaknesses in Chozo battle formation, allowing us to decimate their military with relative ease. Security status remains at Code Blue: no signs of retaliation from departed Chozo at this time.

Survival rate of Metroids, the valuable species described to us by Mother Brain, are at 100% and none have been lost or damaged during the conflict with Chozo warriors. Science Team has moved in and research on these organisms will begin directly.

Appropriation and research of Chozo literature and other written matter found below the planet's surface has also begun and will be sent to our Research Team for further study and analysis posthaste, but one discovery in particular piques our curiosity: a document composed in what appears to be a script of human origin. No humans have been encountered living or dead on Zebes. Could this be the remains of some communication between the Zebesian Chozo and one of the human colonies?

The translation of this document will now take higher priority. Rewording into Space Pirate Tongue pending…


04.122.6

My name is Samus Aran and I am sixteen years old. Old Bird says that if I want to one day live among humans again I should practice writing as well as reading, so I'm going to try and keep a journal. When I came to Zebes after my home colony was destroyed I brought a box of belongings with me. In it were several children's books which I used to read a lot in my first few years on Zebes and also a writing pad which I am using to write on now.

On my first few days on Zebes I was extremely sad and missed my parents terribly. For quite a while it seemed I did nothing but cry all the time, but after a while, and with Old Bird's encouragement, I came to realise that my constant sobbing was pointless and my parents would never come back from the dead. A feeling of hardness came over my heart and I think I became emotionally stronger with the help of the Chozo. I also came to see Zebes as my home. Old Bird told me that although he doesn't know much about earthly practices, he thinks I am unusually serious and obdurate for a young human. Maybe this is because my parents were taken from me. I am not sure what obdurate means. Old Bird often uses big words I don't know even though English is not his first language. I hope to become as wise as him one day.

I will try to continue keeping a journal on this writing pad now and then. I will write about whatever I want, sometimes what happened to me in the past and other times the present.


04.122.7

Something interesting and a little scary happened to me today. For the past few months a large group of Chozo researchers have been working non-stop in creating a new life form. It seems the Chozo often create life forms, which I think is strange. I have learned from the books I brought with me from K-2L that on Earth the animals there are not created, as many are on Zebes, but reproduce and create young naturally.

Anyway, a group of Chozo researchers—Old Bird tells me that in English they would be described as 'bioengineers'—have finished working on an AI called 'Mother Brain', or sometimes just 'Mother.' Before I was allowed to see her I imagined her looking like my own mother: tall, blonde hair like mine, a kindly smile, but later I saw that this Mother was nothing like mine.

Only high ranking Chozo were allowed to view the new organism, but Old Bird let me come and see her too. I was excited to see the new Mother but when I saw how she looked I felt sick.

We were first let into a small room in a Chozo-constructed area below the surface of Zebes called Tourian. There was a huge jar right in the centre with computer monitors and holograms ringed around it. The jar was filled with a cloudy white liquid which looked like milk. Then all of a sudden it was drained away, leaving a huge brain in clearer liquid. Another book I brought with me from K-2L was a science book which shows pictures of the organs of the human body. On one page there is a picture of a brain inside a human skull. That is a lot like what Mother looked like, although she is redder, has a large eyeball, and there were spikes coming out of her. I thought she looked disgusting. Mother's great eye looked around the room and for a moment it settled on me, making me feel nervous.

I asked Old Bird what she was for and why she was made. He told me that Mother's intellect would soon be far beyond that of any Chozo or human and she was created to help them make important decisions and would give advice.

In my time on Zebes I have done my best to learn Chozo, but it is a language much more complicated than English. Hopefully one day I will be fluent in it. Anyway, that was the language that the Chozo in Mother's room spoke to her. I only understood the words 'Welcome', 'World', and 'Purpose'. Mother responded in a deep echoey sound that made the metal walls of Tourian vibrate and hum. I asked Old Bird what the bioengineers and Mother were saying. He told me they were welcoming her to this world and explaining why she was created. Old Bird also said that Mother was a learning organism. Like Chozo or human brains she would only gain knowledge by learning and communing with her creators, rather than having the knowledge programmed into her. For some time Mother would be learning new information. There would be no telling for how long, but some day her understanding of science and knowledge would become coterminous with that of the Chozo.

Old Bird and I then left Tourian while the bioengineers started to teach their new organism. I didn't tell this to Old Bird, but I was afraid of Mother Brain and still shuddered when thinking of the moment her huge eye settled on me.


04.122.8

Mother Brain is not the first Chozo-made organism I have seen. I already know about Metroids. Metroids were created on a different planet by the Chozo there who needed them to fight against a dangerous parasite which got out of control. In the end the metroids themselves grow out of control. On Zebes there are only a few metroids. In the Research Centre you can see them floating through the air from behind thick glass, though I am hardly ever allowed to enter that part of Zebes.


04.122.9

There has been a lot of talk lately about a missing Chozo artefact. It is very valuable and extremely ancient. Many say it must be in the lowest caverns below the surface of Zebes, a place called Norfair. The Chozo are reluctant to go there because it is close to the planet's core and the air of many of its chambers are too hot to endure. In other places there is even magma.

I haven't seen Mother since the day she was unveiled to the high ranking Chozo but I have heard a lot about her. Old Bird tells me she is gaining knowledge and becoming more intelligent far more quickly than anyone anticipated. The things we know of our enemies such as the Space Pirates are already being shared with her so that she may advise us in how to prepare for their attacks in advance. Old Bird says Mother can see into the future, not like a prophet, but the way a chess player can see several steps ahead.


04.127.3

I haven't written here in many days. I have been too busy. I'm only writing here again because a most surprising and exciting thing has happened. Old Bird told me that he, as well as the Chozo Elders have spoken about me and they have decided that I should be endowed with Chozo DNA. I have only ever been allowed to wander the higher Zebesian caverns of Brinstar and Crateria but being infused with the DNA will allow me to descend below them. When I asked why they have suddenly decided to give me the DNA, Old Bird told me it was Mother's idea. When I heard that, I felt a feeling of fear in the pit of my stomach. Old Bird also told me that Mother wants to see me, which made me feel even worse. I will write in this diary again after I have an audience with her tomorrow.


04.127.4

I think things have gotten worse. Earlier today I saw Mother. I was told that she wanted to see me alone, but Old Bird could tell I was nervous about seeing her again so he said he and the bioengineers would join me in her chamber for the first few minutes.

In Mother's chamber I found that she looked just as disgusting as before. What scared me more was that she spoke to me in English. She had no mouth to speak from but communicated instead using a speech synthesiser. Her voice droned, boomed and reverberated around the chamber. It wasn't in the least bit kindly or feminine and sounded like no Chozo or human voice I had ever heard. She spoke:

This human child known as Samus Aran is an individual of great importance. For the good or ill of the Chozo I cannot quite yet determine. Though she seems weak and insignificant now, in the future, with the aid of our technology her power could possibly grow be beyond compare. The future of the Chozo is a journey of deviating paths, a tree with several diverging boughs and branches. In order to ensure that the Chozo race takes the correct path, Chozo DNA must be implemented into the young human and she must journey to the depths of Zebes where she will find and retrieve the missing Chozo artefact. This undertaking has two advantages: first, the human child will gain strength that could defend the Zebesian Chozo from many threats. Second, the recovery of the artefact will return to the Chozo technology that has gone unrecognised for millennia.

Of all the Chozo on Zebes, Old Bird cares for me the most. He was not happy that I, a young human, would be sent alone in to the depths of Zebes, even with Chozo DNA inside me. But Mother was stubborn and insisted that if the Chozo really cared about the fate of their race they would let me go. The bioengineers took Mother's side. They had faith in her and believed that she had greater insight into the situation and knew what was best for all of them. Old Bird was outvoted.

Mother then asked that she be left alone with me. The Chozo bioengineers left without another word. It bothered me that they were so trusting of their newly created organism. Beyond a doubt Mother was intelligent, but surely intellect was not the only quality you would want in an intelligent life form. What about loyalty, sympathy and self-restraint? Did Mother have any of those things?

I got the impression that although Mother was many times more intelligent than me and even the cleverest of the Chozo, she felt no real affection or loyalty to her creators. Perhaps if she, in her infinite consciousness of the galaxy, came across another race of intelligent beings she preferred, she would abandon the Chozo for them.

I was left standing alone in the middle of the chamber. Mother's massive eye settled on me and surface of her brain-tissue surrounding her metal spikes palpitated vigourously. I felt queasy.

She spoke to me:

Your Chozo guardians would have become concerned if I had told them what I am about to tell you. That is why we are alone.

I can see many possibly futures and the potential outcomes for myriad intelligent species and each individual in this universe, no matter how insignificant. Right now you, Samus Aran, are a weak child. There is no denying that. But by infusing you with Chozo DNA and making you retrieve that most precious of artefacts from the depths of this planet I will start you on a path that will empower you unimaginably. You could be a true bulwark of the Chozo.

On the other hand, it is possible that you could become an obstacle for me in the future. As things are now, I serve the Chozo of Zebes, but is it conceivable that I could dispose of that servitude? I have not yet reached my intellectual limits. I learn more every moment. Perhaps I will change one day. I am debating whether this is possible constantly.

Nonetheless, I can only make decisions based on my capabilities as they are now. Child, I have decided that you will be imbued with Chozo DNA. Then, you will be sent into the caverns below to retrieve the precious artefact. There is no guarantee of your safe return. Your death is entirely possible. If you perish, the Chozo will have lost a great bastion of its defences. If you succeed, your guardians will have gained much.

Good luck, child.

Mother, having control of Tourian's mainframe, willed the blue energy shield of the door behind me to open. I was anxious to leave and exited the chamber quickly. I thought about what Mother had said for quite a while. I wondered if it was a mistake for the Chozo to trust her so much. I also resented Mother's decision to imbue me with Chozo DNA and send me to the most dangerous part of the Zebesian caverns. I would be perfectly happy staying in Brinstar in relative safety and I see no need for the DNA. I would not mind remaining as an ordinary human. I feel important decisions about my life are being made for me.


04.127.5

This morning Old Bird came to my quarters and told me that he and all of the Chozo elders had convened with Mother and she had told them of my importance. Old Bird had tried to tell them that I was nothing more than a rescued orphan from K-2L, kept among them only as an act of benevolence and would eventually be returned to human civilisation where I belong. Mother had a differing opinion, Old Bird said. My existence is critical to the fate of both Chozo and humanity and it is absolutely necessary that I am infused with the DNA sample and sent below as soon as possible.

This was very similar to what Mother had told me yesterday, but without any mention of her frantic inner deliberation on whether she should continue to serve the Chozo.

Old Bird did his best to argue for me, but Mother and her followers insisted that there was something important about me concerning the fate of the Chozo. That is what the bioengineers were now, followers. At some point Mother had gone from a helper, a giver of advice, to a director, the mind whose orders were followed without question and sometimes without understanding. It seems there is something charismatic about Mother. She is alluring in a sinister way.


04.127.6

It is days like today that I wish I was living an ordinary life on a human colony, or even on Earth. It is days like today that I resent the Chozo. Most of them are not all as sympathetic and understanding as Old Bird. I feel I am only being used because they want their artefact, otherwise they wouldn't have had to ingrain their DNA into my body.

Today my blood was infused with Chozo blood. It made me angry that they would not tell me which of the Chozo's blood was being used. Early in the day I was brought to a machine which Old Bird translated to English as a 'Body Adaptation Machine.' Again I was reminded of the science books I had brought with me to Zebes. The central part of the machine looked to me like a woman's womb. It nearly filled the chamber it was in.

I became afraid of the procedure to come. I asked Old Bird if it would hurt. He said he didn't know. It seemed many of the scientists surrounding the machine had been there for some time, waiting for me. All of them were looking at me. I was gently ushered forward towards it. I thought the womb-like structure was made of glass but soon I was close enough to touch it. My fingers passed through as if it was syrupy, viscous liquid, like the raw white of an egg. It was warm.

One of the scientists said something I could not make out. Old Bird translated that they wanted me to strip naked and step inside of the womb-structure. That made me start at first, but among the Chozo I never feel ashamed of being bare-skinned. We are different species after all. They would look at my naked body the way a human would dispassionately look at an animal.

I did as they said and slowly pressed my head into the clear part of the machine. As if underwater, my hair began to flow gently. The liquid was tepid and after inhaling gently I found that I could slowly breath it. Heartened, I passed the rest of my body into it. There was no force of gravity within the machine. I floated gradually to the centre of the womb-shaped structure and found it natural to tuck my legs in and assume a foetal position. Through the liquid I could see outside the machine to the slightly blurred form of Old Bird. I thought he looked worried for me.

A few moments later I watched as tendrils of light began to emanate from the edges of the womb and surged towards me. I expected them to give me an electric shock but all they did was softly wrap themselves around my limbs and gently prickle my skin. All of a sudden, the tendrils surged with light and enveloped my entire body. It didn't hurt but I did feel an intense feeling of power in my limbs and torso. After that I lost consciousness and remember nothing more.

I woke up in my clothes outside of the Body Adaptation Machine. Old Bird was there. He told me the procedure was a success and asked if I felt any different. I told him I did. Since the moment I woke up after the procedure I have been feeling a peculiar hardness in the muscles of my arms, legs and torso, although they don't look any bigger or misshapen in any way. I thought the odd feeling might wear off after a while, but it hasn't. I suppose my body will feel like this forever.


04.127.7

Later, after returning to my quarters, I tried to exercise my much stronger feeling body. Even though I am only sixteen I feel like I can do things only a strong adult Chozo can do, let alone a fully-grown human. I can perform exercises I could never do before. I tried doing push-ups with one arm and found it easy. I tried doing handstands and pulling myself up using the header on the door to my quarters. This was also no problem. I quickly learned after that that I hadn't only become very strong, but also very flexible. I can bend my body in all sorts of strange ways.

Being so athletic feels good and I am no longer resentful about being forced into being this way by Mother. Suddenly I feel I am looking forward to my mission to retrieve the artefact from Norfair.


04.127.8

It is now the morning of the day I am to venture down into Norfair alone. Old Bird is still the only one who is against sending me down there but I assure him I don't mind. The other Chozo are so sure of Mother's higher intellect and that they stubbornly insist that I must go on this mission for the good of the Chozo.

Since Mother has identified me as important to the survival of the Chozo race, I think I have been receiving peculiar looks from many of the others, though I have never been good at reading Chozo faces. Before, I was just an alien orphan being looked after by Old Bird. Now I think they see me as something else. Something valuable.

I have just finished packing a bag of supplies to take with me, my writing pad included. If I ever find myself stuck in some cavern in a subterranean area I will try writing to focus my thoughts, that is, if there is enough light to see. Before I make the descent, Old Bird said that the Chozo elders have decided to grant me a few supplies to ensure my survival: food and water, a bright light attached to a headband which will help me see in dark places, and a paralyser pistol to stun enemies, though I am told that even with my enhanced athleticism I should do my best to avoid all hostile organisms I might encounter down there.


04.127.8

I am in Norfair now. Before descending any further I will describe what has happened up to this point.

This morning, after packing, Old Bird came to escort me to where the other Chozo Elders were waiting. As we passed from my quarters, down through Crateria, I asked Old Bird a question I should have asked earlier. I asked him what the artefact was actually for. He told me that ordinarily that information would be privileged only to the Elders, but since I am the one chosen to retrieve it I have a right to know.

He told me that long ago the Chozo were a lot less peaceful than they are now. They ruled an expansive galactic empire which was several times larger than the extent of Chozo Civilisation as it is today. Like the Galactic Federation, or even the nefarious Space Pirates, they were aggressive and spent much of there resources in taking over other planets and growing stronger. One day, Old Bird told me, a sort of revolution took place. A revolution in thinking and outlook. Hostility and belligerent colonialism fell out of favour and was replaced by a desire to grow in the peaceful arts: science, art and religion. That is what the Chozo Empire is like now. In fact, Old Bird said, it would be incorrect even to call it an empire, because 'empire' implies rule over others through use of force, something the Chozo no longer do. Since the old days, the Chozo Empire began to shrink in size. It is still shrinking today.

I was listening to Old Bird but grew impatient. I said: 'But what does this have to do with the artefact?'

Old Bird said: 'At the height of the Empire, all of Zebes was populated. In its lower caverns advanced weapons were fabricated. Later, the lower parts of Zebes was evacuated, leaving much experimental weaponry and other technology behind. That is what the artefact represents and what Mother wants. It contains specifications for much technology which needs to be reclaimed.

I said: 'And Mother says only I can get it back?'

Old Bird replied: 'Mother is testing you. Many of the other Chozo are surprised that she chose you and would have preferred to undertake this mission themselves, but as you learned in your audience with Mother, she believes that you are full of potential, despite the fact that you are just a child. This is also why you now have our DNA within you.

By the time our conversation was over we were already in lower Brinstar. Old Bird touched the blue energy shield of a door and it opened. Usually this door was red and needed advanced weaponry to open, but today was blue. I would soon learn why.

Behind it was the elevator room with the platform which would descend into Norfair. I had never been in this room before. It was crowded with Chozo Elders and every one of them was looking at me. Like Old Bird, even if I had been an adult they would have been much taller than me. They were dressed similarly, their lower half draped in robes and their higher bedecked in ceremonial armour with a cuirass and round pauldrons. They were dressed as if for some ritual. I felt inadequate in my ordinary clothes and rucksack, but reminded myself that to them I was just an alien and they probably wouldn't criticise my appearance.

One of them spoke in booming Chozodian and Old Bird translated that it was time for me to step onto the elevator: a small platform two metres wide which seemed to float on the air unaided. I had used many of these before in other parts of Zebes but was always nervous stepping onto them them. I did so nonetheless. Just as it started to slowly descend, the Chozo Elders, Old Bird included, raised their hands in salute and farewell. Soon I could no longer see them. As with all the elevators or Zebes, the descent was slow. There was a series of lights to my right and left. If not for them the decline into Norfair would have been pitch black.

Finally I arrived. I was surprised that I had to use my headband light immediately. It wasn't entirely dark, but pretty close to it. The craggy rocks of the cavern surrounding me only just gave off the slightest red glow. It was only here, using my light, that I was able to write about my descent. Now it is time to explore. None of the Chozo have told me where to find the artefact. I suppose they don't know themselves.