Corruption of Heart Ch 8
Matter Within Soul

(Samus' POV)

It had been quiet for some time. I felt like I was sleeping, blissfully floating through an endless dream. All of my worries seem to leave me. Then I slowly came to realize something. A different feeling came over me, like I was lying on something cold. My eyes opened to see a dimly lit hallway; I was lying against the wall under a cold white light. My zero suit covered my body. I got to my feet and looked around. The hallway seemed to span in to directions, both hidden within the inky blackness outside the light I was under.
"Where am I?" I asked myself.
Soon I heard something; it sounded like footsteps. The light above me suddenly flickered and went out. I turned to where the sound had come from to see a dim green light. It revealed an entrance to another two-way hall that stood perpendicular to the one I was in; the light was getting brighter. Then something suddenly came into view; there lit by green lights spread across its body, stood my suit. For a moment it stopped in the middle of the opening, and turned toward me, its lifeless stare studying me. I couldn't see any eyes behind the visor; it simply glowed a bright green.
It turned back and continued to walk; it had nearly left my site before I began to follow. It acted as if I wasn't there, silently leading me through the blackened halls. I spoke several times, but it never responded. Soon something came into view: a door. It was unlike the ones I usually use; it was an older door. A metal knob was located on the left side half way down its wooden structure. Light spread across the floor from the thin opening below it.
My armor walked to door, stopping in front of it. It looked over its shoulder at me; then turned back. It began to walk again, not stopping to open the door. At first I thought it would bust through it; but then something happened that I wasn't expecting. I phased through it, like it was a ghost! Startled, I soon followed, grabbing the knob and opening the door.
I looked to see that I had arrived into a large chamber; countless doors and staircases lined its walls. The room was enormous; it could easily fit a skyscraper within it. I soon rejoined my suit, which had begun to travel farther into the chamber. We continued to travel for some time, traversing multiple stairways, and passing an incalculable number of doors. I noticed that many of them had markings above them; none of which I recognized.
Soon the light from the chamber began to fade behind us as we walked. Once again leaving a pale shadow to reside over the corridors. The halls slowly became more and more crippled; many of the walls had large chunks missing from them. Pieces of the wall littered the floor; it was almost like a battle had been fought here... Many of the doors we passed had blue light emerging from beneath them, giving the hall an almost ghostly appearance.
My armor walked up to a door, and stood before it for a moment and looked back at me, as if motioning for me to follow. Then it continued, phasing through the door once again. I walked to the door and put my hand on the knob. I hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to expect. I closed my eyes and opened the door. I almost didn't want to open my eyes, but soon I forced myself too. What met them left me in a feeling of pure awe.
Within the room was a Chozo statue nearly 75 feet in height. The statue was brilliantly detailed, untouched by time. It held a luminescent orb that shown a bright blue that reflected a wavering light throughout the room. Within the orb the 12 Chozo Artifacts gently circled around a something; I could not make out what.
"What is this?" I asked.
"Really want to know?" Asked a deep voice from behind me.
My focus was immediately broken, I recognized the voice; my awe turned to rage. I turned, and my eyes narrowed in anger.
"You..." I said coldly.
There he stood once again, the shadow that forever haunted my dreams, Dark Samus. The blue light reflected from his armor, casting multiple shadows across the floor. His right arm no longer held a weapon; it had become another hand.
"Why so angry?" He said, his sinister voice ringing through my head "Is that how you speak to someone who saved your life?"
"Then I really did..." I trailed off not wanting to say the last word.
"Die?" He asked completing the thought.
He suddenly burst into a malevolent laughter that echoed throughout the room. His laughter was disturbing, the sound of it made me cringe.
"No... You were weakened considerably, but you didn't die" He said slyly "It did however give me an excellent opportunity..."
"What?" I asked rage mixing with a sickened curiosity.
"When life is in control of a body it is made of flesh and blood, and when death is in control it turns bones; it's the same concept" He said "So in other words, the weaker you are..."
"The stronger you become..." I said grasping what he had told.
"...My influence rather, but yes" He stated "However this notion is not limited to physical condition, it can also be applied to state of mind"
"What are you talking about? What do you mean 'influence?'" I asked, my curiosity beginning to overthrow my rage.
"When a person is awake their conscious is in control; this allows them to use logic; to have emotions and personalities; even to make judgments upon their beliefs. In other words it is the ability to control oneself in both body and mind..." He said "But when a person sleeps, or when the subconscious is the controlling factor, none of this applies. It opens the mind to believe things that it usually can't, or things that it doesn't wish to..."
It suddenly became clear to me.
"You were contacting me..." I deduced "Using my dreams as a nexus"
"Correct..." He said "However I couldn't contact you as well as I am now"
"Then the dreams..."
"Failed attempts to speak with you" He explained "Although you don't want to admit it, you hold a great fear of me. So when I attempted to contact you while you slept, that fear manifested itself in the form of a nightmare, giving you only fragments of what I was trying to tell you. Although I did enjoy watching your squirm..."
"Dark Samus, you son of a-"
"Dark Samus?" He asked disdainfully "That is the title I carry? A mire shadow of yours?"
"Then what is you name?" I asked.
"I've told you once already, I don't have one" He said "Or should I take your name and call it my own?"
"Bastard..." I said under my breath.
"You can call me anything you want, but your just insulting yourself" He said smugly.
"Shut up! I am nothing like you!" I shouted my temper reaching a peak.
My emotions were going insane; I hated his very presence, his words sickened me, and yet I wanted to know more.
"You still haven't answered my question, what did you mean 'influence?'" I asked again sternly.
"Your to easy to manipulate woman... In more ways than one" He said with a chuckle.
I glared at him, outraged that he was able to get a rise out of me so easily.
"Do the math woman; there are two minds inhabiting one body; when the foremost mind becomes useless, what does the other gain?"
My eyes widened, I understood what he was saying but I begged it not to be true.
"There is only one answer: control" He said malevolently.
That word echoed through my head, every part of me refusing to believe it; and yet I knew he wasn't lying. My body began to shiver; fear coursed through me, chilling me to my core; I was in agony. It felt like I was being tortured; that one word had scared me beyond anything he had shown me. He once again burst into laughter, no doubt amused with the shear horror displayed on my face. I summoned what little courage I had left and spoke a single question.
"What did you do?" I asked my voice quivering, tears beginning to form.
"Don't worry so much, I just had a little fun..." He said deceitfully.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?" I yelled.
"Merely what you were about to..." He said "I destroyed the base and annihilated everyone within it. I would have continued to use you, but your body was weak; every bone was creaking from the strain... However, I am surprised you lasted as long as you did... My little puppet"
At this point he was just trying to upset me... And it was working. Tears flowed from my face, and I dropped to my knees.
"Make it stop..." I begged.
I remained like this for a little while, unable to control my emotions. I got back onto my feet, ashamed of myself for showing such a side to him. I felt shameful, but there was another question I needed answered.
"Why me?" I asked whipping the tears from my face.
"You still want to know more, even after I brought you to tears?" He asked.
I nodded, rubbing the tears from my eyes.
"...I've already shamed myself" I admitted "If nothing else then I want to know more"
"Very well..." He said walking over and stopping in front of me "The first time you defeated me I attempted to take you with me, and I failed. But I managed to preserve my life by stealing what you called your "Phazon Suit." I was reborn as your shadow, given all of your abilities added to and enhanced by my own. However, I soon grew tired of this new body and attempted to revert to my original form, but I couldn't; something I had taken from you prevented me from doing so... Then I learned that this form was unstable; in order to survive I had to constantly absorb power, or hide within the body of another. The nearest source of power that I could absorb was located in the world were we first fought, Dark Aether. After our final battle within the dark world something came to light; it was not what I had absorbed, it was what I hadn't... I had absorbed you suit, but I had not absorbed you. Your genetic was programmed into the suit that I claimed as my body; as such that is what I required to stabilize my form. So I enticed you to come to Phaaze. Then after you arrived I used everything at my disposal to kill you; hoping to harvest your D.N.A. after you died. Unfortunately you once again emerged the victor, destabilizing my form, and forcing me to give up the three I had absorbed in the possess. Desperate, I absorbed the corruption I had implanted within each of you, and managed to infiltrate your body so that I could recover my form"
"Then why are you still here?" I asked a moment after he finished his story.
He looked at me as if confused.
"If you are within me then couldn't you be able to take my genetic code by force?" I asked.
He turned his back to me and tilted his head upward and gazed at the sphere held by that statue.
"What is that?" I asked.
"That is your D.N.A...." He said.
His tone had changed; it was hollow, almost irritated.
"The gift giving to you by the Chozo prevents me from simply taking it..." He said aggravated.
"My blood?" I asked putting my left hand over my heart.
He turned back around and looked at me face to face.
"Yes..." He answered his tone returning to normal.
"Then why do you need me?" I asked my hand still over my heart.
"I cannot take it... But you, and you alone, can give it to me" He said as he rapped his hand around the wrist lying on my chest.
I quickly wrenched my wrist from his grip, my rage returning.
"Never!" I said angrily.
He shook his head and took several steps back, distancing himself from me.
"I am willing to make a deal with you woman" He said "In exchange for your genetic code and time to recuperate in your body, I will give you all my power..."
"What?" my rage subsiding and being replaced with a sickened curiosity.
"Think of it..." He said enticingly "A power greater than any army; abilities most can only dream of; knowledge that rivals the greatest of scientific minds; and experience superior to the finest of solders... All of this to use as you see fit... You would be unstoppable... A demigod"
He words penetrated me. Every thought in my head circled around his words. And what frightened me most... I liked the offer...


To Be Continued...